


Found

by fems



Series: Lost and Found [2]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: AU, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-26
Updated: 2011-11-26
Packaged: 2017-11-01 01:38:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/350558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fems/pseuds/fems
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following the adventures of 'Lost' Sam and Jack now have to process their ordeal and learn to live with the changes in their personal lives. Short sequel.</p><p>This fic was nominated in the Best Characterization of Jack in the <a href="http://www.samandjackawards.com/2014-fiction.html">Sam & Jack Multimedia Awards 2014</a>:<br/><img/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

**December 21, 2005**  
**Carter Apartment, Colorado Springs  
** **0530 hours**

Jack slowly awoke, his hand already reaching to the other side of the bed before his eyes opened. When his fingers encountered nothing but bedcovers, he frowned and turned his head. Only when he sat up slightly and peered around the darkened room, did he find his wife of one year. She was sitting by the window, her pale features illuminated by the moonlight which filtered through the partly opened curtains. Scrubbing a hand over his face, Jack willed himself awake and cast a glance at the alarm clock. About an hour before they had to get up, but it looked like she had been sitting there for quite some time. His eyes immediately moved to the crib three feet away and, seeing his daughter was all right and peacefully asleep, let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and forced himself to relax. "Sam?"

Hearing his whisper, she looked over her shoulder. "Hey," Sam gave him a small smile but didn't otherwise move.

"What'cha doing?" When her only reaction was a slight shrug, Jack crawled out of bed and walked up to her. "Sam?" He asked again, resting his hand on her shoulder while he kept an eye on Sasha. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Nope," Sam shook her head and leaned back against his chest. His body heat warmed her up a bit, she'd already been sitting here in her boxers and a shirt for over an hour.

He frowned, eyes darting between her and the baby. Sasha was still sound asleep and he doubted she'd woken her up, since he was a light sleeper and couldn't imagine sleeping through her cries. "Sasha?"

"She's been asleep for the last five hours," she replied, casting an adoring glance at the baby. Canting her head, Sam looked up at her husband and grimaced. "Headache."

"Oh," Jack mumbled sympathetically. Since the Asgard had used the memory implant device on her to return her memories over a week ago, she'd been experiencing frequent headaches. Sliding his fingers through her long locks, he gently massaged her scalp. "Better?"

Sam hummed softly, leaning into him as she enjoyed his fingers doing their magic. "Yeah, better," she whispered after a few minutes. It had been over an hour ago that she'd taken an acetaminophen but it still hadn't kicked in and by now she suspected it wouldn't ease the pain in her head at all. Janet had told her it would be okay to take an acetaminophen or ibuprofen, despite breastfeeding as long as she didn't exceed the maximum dose. At first she had refused, but she'd relented when the headaches got worse and woke her from a peaceful sleep or kept her awake all night. The Asgard had warned it her it could take some time before they would disappear, since her mind was still processing all the memories they'd implanted. Although Sam was relieved to have her memories back, she found it hard to focus sometimes when memories suddenly resurfaced out of nowhere, not to mention this side effect.

"Good," Jack smirked and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. "Wanna come back to bed? We still have an hour," he suggested. Sliding his hands down her shoulders he was shocked to feel how cold she was. "You're freezing!" He exclaimed a bit louder than he'd intended. Rubbing his hands over her bare arms, he glanced at the baby but she hadn't woken up despite his loud voice.

Pushing herself up from her seat, Sam turned around and wrapped her arms around her husband. "Okay, but I'm not really tired anymore," she mumbled, her voice muffled by his chest as she snuggled up to him.

"Well, I am," he admitted with his nose in her hair. "C'mon," Jack murmured as he pulled her towards the bed. "I have a long day ahead," he groused, snuggling under the covers.

She nodded her understanding and slipped in, rolling on her side so he could spoon behind her while she faced the crib. Janet wanted her and Sasha to get checked out in the infirmary today, to see their progress so far. Jack was up to his neck in paperwork, which he claimed was the President's revenge because they'd gone off on an unauthorized mission to find their daughter. Of course everyone was happy with the outcome, but with him being the director of Homeworld Security Jack wasn't allowed to go around traipsing the galaxy without permission from the JCS and the President. During their rescue mission they had come across several planets, bases and alien technology which all required detailed reports, debriefings and lots of paperwork…

_Beep, beep, beep!_

Jack grunted as the sounding alarm interrupted his dream and rubbed a hand over his tired eyes, wearily draping his arm over his face to shut out the world and enjoy his warm bed. His ears pricked up when the annoying alarm was turned off and after removing his arm, he slowly opened his eyes to see his wife sitting up next to him. "Good morning," he croaked, smiling sleepily at her.

"Morning," Sam replied in a whisper, her eyes fixed on his sleepy brown ones. She hadn't been able to go back to sleep and instead had snuggled into the comforter and cuddled up to Jack, alternating between observing the miracle that was their daughter and marveling at the man she'd married – and going over all memories of him stored in her mind.

He squirmed under her attention and narrowed his eyes at her. "What'cha doing, Carter?"

"Nothing," she smiled sheepishly, before leaning in to press a soft kiss to his lips.

"Hmm," Jack hummed, caressing her cheek before stealing another kiss. As he rolled on his side, he peered over her form towards the crib. "Sasha?"

"Still asleep," Sam reassured him.

He nodded slowly, before letting his eyes slide back to her. Frowning at the dreamy expression on her face, his hand found her knee under the covers and he squeezed it gently. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

She ducked her head, a flush creeping up her neck. "I was just…"

"Just…?" Jack prompted her.

"Remembering," Sam said with a gentle smile, her blue gaze locking on his. It was still strange for her to find herself overcome with memories at the most unexpected moments, especially as she kept thinking that all her memories were back until something like this happened again and old ones unfolded in her mind. Lately, she found herself reminiscing early in the morning, when Jack was still asleep. Or after she got up a little after midnight to feed their daughter and was trying to fall back asleep.

"Good things?" He murmured with a quirked eyebrow.

She nodded in reply, knowing he was still worried about all the bad memories from her abduction that resurfaced every now and then. Sometimes they were older ones, from her time in the field but those seemed to have less of an impact on her unless they came in the form of nightmares. But in those cases, Jack was there for her like in the beginning of their relationship, the same way she was there for him if he had a bad dream. "Yeah."

"Good," Jack replied, blinking sleepily as he snuggled closer to put his head on her lap.

Sam chuckled softly, lovingly stroking a hand through his messy hair. "Jack," she drawled, "time to get up."

"I'm tired," he whined in a muffled voice with his face buried in her shirt.

"Man up, Airman," she scolded in her best commanding tone, but couldn't help smiling. "You have a lot of work to do at the SGC. Besides, there'll be no sleeping once the little one wakes up."

"Don't remind me," Jack groused, reminded of his busy schedule. Rolling over, he laid his head on her thighs and beamed at her. "Can't we play hooky?"

His excited tone and boyish grin made Sam giggle, once more wondering how the man had ever made it to major general. "No, we can't," she replied with an eye roll, ignoring his pleading looks. "I think  _that_  might really anger President Hayes."

"Maybe he'll finally realize letting me retire is the best option!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"I doubt it," Sam shook her head in disagreement. Leaning down, she pressed a quick kiss on his head and prompted him to get up so she could get out of bed. "He's been pretty adamant for you to stay on; it's more likely he'll demote you than let you retire."

Jack huffed and finally got up. "Just to spite me," he muttered under his breath. "At least I'll be on leave starting next week… No, no, you stay in bed," he urged her with a grin. "I'll get you your tea and breakfast and then you can feed Sasha," he gestured towards the crib. Like them, their daughter had started settling into a routine these past few days on Earth and she'd be awake soon, demanding breakfast. "I'll be right back."

"You don't have to do that," she countered, ready to get out of bed.

"Ack! Sam, just stay in bed for a minute and rest a bit. You haven't had a lot of sleep and you know Landry or one of the geeks will want you to check on  _something_  once you're at the SGC," he argued, before padding down the corridor. Once in the kitchen, he put on some water and rummaged about. Grabbing two bowls, he filled one with yoghurt and muesli for Sam and the other with Froot loops. He didn't add the milk just yet, eager to shower first as he was still sleepy. Now that his family was finally reunited the stress and emotional turmoil from Sam's abduction and the search for their baby was taking their toll. Not to mention having to care for an infant again! Jack hadn't realized how much of a difference twenty years could make until they brought Sasha home with them and he was reminded of all the sleepless nights he and Sara had had when Charlie was a baby. In a way it was a blessing that his daughter was now old enough to settle into a rhythm and would sleep for six hours straight during the night.

He startled from his musings when the water was done and quickly poured Sam a cup of herbal tea. Casting a longing glance at the percolator which was already making his coffee, he decided to shower first and have his breakfast afterwards since the coffee wasn't done yet. Sam had this ingenious concept of fixing the percolator before bedtime and hooking it up to a timer, ensuring the coffee was done by the time she'd get out of bed to eat breakfast – if she ate any at all. Since they got together he'd been an avid fan, but now he felt a bit guilty because she had to cut back on the coffee because she was breastfeeding. With a sigh, he grabbed the bowl, cup and a spoon and padded over to the apartment's bedroom. "Look!" he exclaimed, presenting her with her breakfast.

Sam smiled shyly as she settled against the headboard. "Thanks," she murmured as he handed her the bowl and set the tea on her nightstand. "You're not having any?"

"After I've showered," Jack explained as he rummaged around the closets for a clean set of clothes. He'd just grabbed a clean towel and laid out a set of clothes when he heard soft gurgling sounds coming from the crib. Tossing the towel on his side of the bed, he strode over to his daughter. "Hey munchkin," he greeted her with a grin as he leaned over the crib. Jack gently caressed her chubby cheek as she smiled slightly, her blue eyes wide awake and observing him. "C'mere," he murmured in response to her outstretched hands and gently lifted her from her bed. "Look who's awake, Mommy!"

Setting her empty bowl aside, Sam beamed at them as Jack cuddled their daughter and pressed a kiss to her wispy brown hair. "Hand her over so you can take your shower," she urged him, beckoning him over to the bed.

He frowned at the clock, realizing she was right and he needed to take his shower or he might be late for work. Still, he smirked and tickled Sasha's tummy as he walked over to his wife. "Looks like someone's hungry," Jack remarked, sitting down next to Sam as the baby started squirming.

Sam let him place Sasha in her arms, still a bit uncertain herself over her mommy-skills. Mark was only two years younger than she was and she'd never babysat in her life so she was a bit awkward around babies. Unlike most first-time parents she'd also missed out on her baby's first weeks and instead felt like she had a lot of catching up to do. Jack on the other hand had more experience from his first son, even if it had been over two decades ago his late son was born. She wasn't used to failing or lacking understanding of basic things, but that was exactly the situation she found herself in. She'd gotten some advice from friends and coworkers, even got a load of baby books but for once theory and reality didn't quite correspond. At least Sasha still needed her to be fed and that was something she  _could_  do.

Jack lingered for a moment, watching Sam with their daughter before he forced himself to grab the towel and retreat to the bathroom for his shower. The warm water erased the last traces of sleepiness from him and he quickly lathered up, before rinsing down. Within five minutes he'd showered, toweled and was brushing his teeth with a towel wrapped around his waist. Once done, he quickly shaved before moving to the bedroom. His heart swelled with love and pride as he watched his wife feeding their baby, and he quickly joined them on the bed with a goofy grin. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Sam smirked, giving him a quick kiss.

He leaned his head on her shoulder, watching his daughter drink greedily. The moment ended all too soon when Sasha decided she'd had enough and Jack reluctantly pulled away to get dressed. "What's the plan for today?"

"Hm?"

"With Fraiser," Jack reminded her as he slipped into his boxers.

Sam waited until Sasha had burped and spared him a brief glance. "Oh, she wanted to check her development and draw some blood."

"Is she getting her shots today?" He inquired, walking around the bed to take the baby from her.

"If everything checks out," she nodded, slowly getting up from the bed and stretching.

Jack nodded pensively, gesturing for his wife to take the bathroom while he'd change and dress Sasha. Since Sam had spent most of the time she was abducted on a space ship or, what they'd learned later on, Ba'alat's base, she'd lost track of time. She'd been stripped of her watch and all Earth-related items except for her tags and in space it was difficult to separate day from night. Even with her memories slowly returning, Sam had no idea when exactly Sasha had been born. Doc Fraiser was trying to determine her age by checking her progress and they were fairly certain she was eight or nine weeks old, but Fraiser wanted to be completely sure before vaccinating her.

Once Sam finished her tea, grabbed her own towel and went to shower, Jack started baby duty. Since he had the most experience, he and Sam had agreed he'd be responsible in the morning if they had to go somewhere – which lately had been the SGC, despite everything – so she wouldn't feel rushed or stressed out. Besides, he enjoyed spending time with Sasha – he had already missed so much! Sam had been able to bond with her during the pregnancy and for a few days after the birth, but he'd only laid eyes on his daughter less than two weeks ago! Ever since he'd missed Charlie's birth, Jack had promised himself he wouldn't miss any other milestones of the boy or any future kids. Of course, being in the military and doing black ops he'd broken that promise far too often but he'd genuinely thought it would be different with Sam. His job was important, but less demanding with slightly regular hours now that he was director of HWS. At least he wasn't gone for days or weeks at the time on a different continent…

Yet, he'd still missed the entire pregnancy and Sasha's birth, not to mention the first few weeks of her life! Now he cherished every second with her, even if she was crying or waking him up in the middle of the night. Although, if he was honest, Sam was doing most of the night duty since the baby usually woke around 0100 hours for her last meal before settling for the rest of the night. Not that he didn't offer to get her, but Sam was usually already out of bed with the crib only three feet away.

By the time Sam came out of the bathroom, Jack and Sasha weren't in the bedroom anymore. She quickly put on some clothes, brushed her long hair and applied a touch of makeup before moving out into the kitchen. She grinned when she overheard Jack talking to the baby in the small living room and quickly cleaned up the mess he'd left behind from breakfast. When she joined them in the living room, he was set to go with the diaper bag by the door and Sasha in her carrier. Sam marveled at the sight in front of her, once again amazed by his parenting skills. "You ready?"

Jack's head snapped up, slightly surprised by her presence. "We are, you?" he let his eyes roam over her appearance, smirking when he reached her sparkling eyes. "Sasha and I were just discussing the fine art of interplanetary diplomacy…"

Sam snorted and walked over to them. "That's good, because I was planning on teaching her some 'gate travel 101 later today," she joked, wrapping her arms around him.

"Excellent!" He grinned, stealing a kiss from her before straightening. "Okay… we should get going if we want to be in the mountain on time."

* * *

**Stargate Command, Colorado Springs**  
**Infirmary, level 21  
** **1100 hours**

Sam was watching Janet fuss over Sasha, feeling slightly envious about how easily she interacted with the baby even though the doctor had none of her own but she knew Janet had worked on pediatrics at some point in her career hence her experience. Her friend had tried reassuring her she'd get the hang of things soon enough and that it was completely normal for her to feel… inadequate, considering the circumstances. Janet had also told her that with Jack's help and her own maternal instincts, she'd be a natural soon enough. Sam could only hope those hidden talents would kick in soon.

Her heart ached as her daughter briefly cried while Janet took some blood, but she knew it was necessary. Because of Jolinar, she still had naquadah in her blood and somehow she had passed it on to her daughter and that was the reason Janet was her physician. They still hadn't been able to explain how it had been passed on, though Janet had warned her that there was a slight chance of passing it on during a pregnancy or childbirth but that didn't explain the high concentrations in Sasha's blood.

Naquadah was still a bit of a mystery to them when it was part of one's physiology, like Goa'uld, Tok'ra, former hosts and Cassie. At first they'd expected it to disappear over time for her and Cassie since it wasn't something their bodies produced naturally nor did they ingest or inject it. Still, years later it was still present in both of them. Remarkably, the levels seemed constant over the years and now with Sasha having even higher levels in her body they started suspecting it  _was_  being produced somehow. In the beginning of the program Janet had theorized that perhaps excess naquadah was stored in fat cells and as those were burned the naquadah was released into the system, but that had been disproven over the years. Now they suspected it was being produced by the bone marrow together with the regular blood cells, but other than using radiation to kill off their otherwise healthy bone marrow and give them a transplant there was no way to proof it. Obviously that wasn't an option.

"Sam?"

Startled from her musing by the doctor's voice, she looked up. "Sorry, I was just thinking…"

Janet chuckled, not surprised in the least. "Tired?"

"No, not really actually." She replied, a bit surprised when she realized that was true. Janet had already examined her head earlier this morning and concluded everything was going well, as the Asgard had predicted. Although she was a bit worried about the increasing headaches, but Sam figured they'd gotten worse because of the stress recently.

"The little one not keeping you up at night?" She inquired as she finished dressing the baby.

Sam shook her head as Sasha's little fist closed around her finger. Smiling at her daughter, she petted her wisps of brown hair. "She usually wakes up a little after midnight needing to be fed and then sleeps for five or six hours. By the time she wants breakfast Jack and I are usually already awake."

"Lucky you," Janet grinned at her friend. "I'm glad to hear she's settling in nicely and not keeping you awake at all hours of the night."

"Actually," she frowned and bit her lip hesitantly. "Um, I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

Sam sighed and picked up Sasha, cuddling her close to her heart. "She doesn't really cry a lot, actually."

"That's a good thing, trust me," Janet was quick to reassure her.

"Are you sure? I mean, with everything that's happened…" She'd lowered her voice and glanced at the door of the exam room. They had all agreed that no one was to know the details of what Sasha had undergone during her time with Ba'al, as they feared it would make her a target if enemies would find out she'd had part of the Ancient's repositories downloaded into her brain. Not to mention knowing that the Asgard hadn't been able to delete most of it without risk of brain damage and that that knowledge would unfold over time. Only the Asgard, former SG-1 and Janet knew.

Janet patted her shoulder before brushing her fingers through the baby's soft hair. "Sam," she sighed and looked at her friend. "She's doing very well and seems to be on schedule developmentally speaking. She's moving her limbs smoothly, is able to lift her head a bit and can focus on small objects."

Sam chuckled when Janet gestured towards Sasha and realized her daughter was mesmerized by the buttons on her button-up long sleeve shirt. "So…?"

"Pending the blood results, I'd give her a clean bill of health," she said with a smile. Seeing the lieutenant colonel was still not convinced, she grabbed the notes she'd made during her exam. "She's starting to smile spontaneously and squeal a bit in response to toys or tickling, she quiets when people start talking and watches us," Janet nodded towards the curious blue eyes of the little girl. "And you just told me she's settling into a routine and sleeps through most of the night… how's the breastfeeding going?"

"Good, I guess," she replied, unsure of what the doctor wanted to hear.

"Is she adjusting to your schedule?"

Sam nodded and gestured towards the door. "I fed her during breakfast and again when you did SG-2's post-mission exams two hours ago. If she doesn't doze off once we leave, I'll feed her again before lunch."

"See, that's all very good," Janet commented. "I'd say we were right with our estimation of her birthday, about eight to nine weeks ago."

"Does that mean she'll get her vaccinations now?" She asked worryingly, already wincing in sympathy for Sasha with her tiny body and the big needles.

Janet shook her head as she jotted down some last notes. "No, we don't have them here since we don't deal with babies on a regular basis, obviously."

"I guess it would be a bit difficult to explain why we'd need those for our deep space radar telemetry," Sam mused aloud.

"I'll contact Doctor Kelly at the Academy Hospital to ask her for a referral to a pediatrician," she explained. "I will have to confer with you and General O'Neill, I guess, about the paperwork." Seeing Sam's confused expression, Janet elaborated. "We don't have a birth certificate yet and although General Hammond got the ball rolling for my adoption of Cassandra, I assume situations like this now fall under HWS. I'll inquire with Dr Kelly about what kind of paperwork is necessary so we'll know when to schedule the appointment."

As Sasha started wriggling in her hold, Sam quickly shifted her in her arms. "Oh right, of course. You do know we're expected in Washington by the end of the week, right Janet?"

She nodded with pursed lips, a bit annoyed with these developments since she wanted to keep an eye on the cute little baby. It would be difficult to do that when the family went back to their house in DC. But the President had once again ordered them to attend his Christmas party, since General O'Neill was a prominent figure with the position he held and Janet was sure there would be some meetings with Hayes and the JCS as well, before the man would finally be allowed to take his leave next week. "Don't worry honey, it'll all work out."

* * *

**Stargate Command, Colorado Springs**  
**Carter's former lab, level 19  
** **1330 hours**

Jack quietly sat behind the workbench he'd confiscated as his makeshift desk for the time being. Unfortunately he had to go over mission reports from all the SG teams that had been involved in the quest for Ba'al and Sasha, not to mention all the paperwork he had to fill out concerning his own actions… Since his superiors were still a bit pissed off about him taking matters into his own hands by joining the Asgard to look for his kid and calling in several SG teams, they had decided he had to do  _all_  the required paperwork. From analysis of the mission reports to the requisition forms for the ammo they'd used. A lot of this stuff was the responsibility of the base commander, for crying out loud! But Hank had told him he'd been ordered to dump all his crap – uh, paperwork – regarding the search for Ba'al on him and so he had.

As if that wasn't bad enough, he had no office or even a desk of his own! So he had once again claimed Carter's old office, which had been cleared out the moment she transferred to Nevada last year. But it hadn't been reassigned since and Jack silently wondered if perhaps Hank and the brass had been planning on transferring her back before she'd been abducted, hence the empty lab. Oh well, he wouldn't dwell on that, he had plenty of work to do now after all. Hayes had – again – ordered him and Carter to be present during his Presidential Christmas shindig this weekend, which meant they had to go back to DC soon. Neither  _Prometheus_ or  _Daedalus_  were in orbit though and  _Odyssey_ wasn't finished yet, so they had to wait for  _Prometheus_  to return in thirty hours – just in time to beam them over to their house in DC.

Forcing himself to focus on the matter in hand, Jack soldiered on and started filling out several forms. The pile on his left was significantly higher than the one on his right, the latter being the finished paperwork unsurprisingly. He was hoping he'd be able to go through the entire pile this afternoon so he could go home in time for dinner. It was Sam's turn to cook, which pleased him to no end considering she was actually quite good at it despite always denying it over the years. But now he knew her little secret and even though he'd been tempted to demand she'd cook until they were even for all the times  _he_ had made dinner, he'd agreed to cook in turns. She'd made a mean soufflé on their wedding anniversary, which they had spent home alone, just the three of them as they'd been adjusting to their new life and having their daughter safe with them.

Jack startled from his thoughts, er… work, when the door slid open. "For crying out loud," he muttered beneath his breath. This was the umpteenth time someone had disturbed him today in this lab! He'd purposely closed and even locked the door, but people felt the need to barge in and dump equipment in here – the room was getting more cramped by the hour! "Now what?" he barked, glaring at the door opening. His next debrief with SG-3 was in less than an hour and this way he'd never get his paperwork done!

"Jack?"

His scowl disappeared at his wife's voice and he raised his brows. "Carter! What's all this crap doing here?"

"What are  _you_  doing here?" Sam asked with a puzzled frown as she stepped inside her old lab.

"I need a desk to do all this damn paperwork," Jack complained, scrubbing a hand over his face in frustration. Suddenly he dropped his hand and stared at her empty hands – no carrier. "Wait, where's the baby?"

Sam beamed at him and zipped her BDU jacket open. "Look!" She exclaimed in an excited tone as she pulled the jacket aside, showing off the sling which held their daughter.

"Where'd you get that?" He asked in confusion as he stepped closer. His face cleared up as he saw their little bundle snuggled against her mother, fast asleep. "Aw," he whispered in awe and caressed her cheek with his finger.

Grinning at her husband, Sam slid her arm around his neck and pulled him closer for a proper kiss. "Hmm," she hummed softly, enjoying his embrace as his arms wound around her. "I ran into SG-3 and Hailey in the infirmary."

"Huh?" Jack mumbled, pulling away to look at her face.

"The sling," she explained patiently. "It was a present from them, Janet helped me put it on right and it looks like Sasha loves it."

"From Reynolds?" he inquired, raising a brow.

Sam smiled and nodded briefly. "Yeah, him and his team. Oh and Hailey, too."

"Sweet," Jack smirked. When they'd returned with Sasha everyone had been shocked, but they'd adjusted quickly and it wasn't long until people came to the infirmary bearing gifts, eager to see the baby. "Between all the presents we've received we hardly need to buy anything ourselves!"

"Just a crib for in DC, a changing table, a dresser, diapers, bottles and baby clothes," Sam confirmed, using her fingers to tick off the items. "I wonder how we're going to get all this stuff home, though."

" _Prometheus_  can beam us over," Jack gleefully rubbed his hands at the prospect. "At least that way we can move everything at once and we won't damage the rocking chair Daniel and Teal'c gave us."

She nodded and suppressed a yawn. "Are you going to be long?" Seeing the scowl he directed towards her workbench, Sam sighed. "Well, Janet offered to drive Sasha and me home. The carrier is still in the infirmary, as well as the baby bouncer and the clothes she and Cassie gave us, so we can take them home as well."

Jack hugged her again before leaning down to give his daughter a kiss. "Okay, I still have mountains of paperwork and a few debriefings… as a matter of fact, I have to get to the briefing room for SG-3's debrief," he muttered.

"Tell Hailey to get started on that chair when you're done," Sam said, gesturing towards the Galaran memory implant device stored in the corner of her lab. The Asgard had told them about the device's origin and General Landry had consequently sent SG-9 to Galar to return the item Ba'al had stolen from them. In light of a treaty between Earth and their planet, the Galarans had offered them a chair of their own and despite Sam's conflicted feelings about it, she'd requested to examine it and had enlisted the help of Hailey and some others.

"Alright," he sighed wearily. "Well, you should go. I'll see you tonight," Jack murmured, before giving Sam a sweet kiss.


	2. Presidential Christmas Party

**December 24, 2005  
** **The White House, Washington DC  
** **Entrance Hall  
** **1945 hours**

With a last glare towards the Secret Service agent, Sam followed Janet through the hall. Somehow the guys had managed to get through the security check first and much faster than the two women, and she suspected that they were already in the Blue Room. Jack had immediately been whisked away the moment they'd arrived, for some impromptu meeting concerning HWS she assumed. She hadn't been able to ask because of her delay at the security check. Taking a few long strides, she easily caught up with Janet and was relieved Sasha didn't wake despite her sudden moves. "Janet," she called out, unable to reach for her arm while holding the baby.

"She still asleep?" Janet asked with a smile, glancing at the little girl.

Sam nodded and let out a deep sigh. "I can't believe I had to leave the carrier at security," she groused, still a bit pissed off. "What did they think I was going to do? Hit the President over the head with it?"

Janet chuckled softly, shaking her head at the images her mind created. "Did you tell them it was actually a gift from the President?"

"I tried," she muttered. "I should have just worn my dress blues; I bet I could have just waltzed through then like Jack and the guys."

"But this dress looks much better than your blues," Janet disagreed with a small frown. Although she had to admit that no one even batted an eye at General O'Neill walking through and none of the agents had the guts to stop Teal'c after his raised eyebrow. She wasn't quite sure how Daniel had managed to sneak through, though. "Where is the diaper bag?"

Jerking her head in the direction they came from, Sam indicated the coatroom. "I left it there since the bathrooms are there as well."

"Good, the design didn't really match your dress anyway," she replied with a wink. "Now, let's go find your boys."

"My boys?"

Janet shrugged as they entered the Blue Room, scanning the crowd for their familiar forms. "Well, they were on your team."

"While Sasha may have Teal'c wrapped around her little finger and, well," she blushed, "um. I have Jack, Daniel is all yours."

"Is not!"

Sam giggled at her friend's indignant tone; not bothering to point out her reaction was very similar to what Daniel would say in such a situation. "You sure about that, Janet? You know he likes you."

"Oh look, there's General Hammond! Let's go say hi," Janet said, quickly changing the subject and practically dragging Sam along in his direction. "I'm sure he wants to finally meet Sasha."

Ignoring all the questioning looks thrown her way, Sam walked towards her former commander with a bright smile despite Sasha's fussing as she slowly woke up. Sam could see his eyes light up when he noticed the baby in her arms and it was only then that she realized how much introducing her daughter to him meant to both of them. After all, since her father died he was the closest thing she had for a father figure. He'd also been there for her and Mark when their Mom had died and had continued to support them throughout their lives albeit in the background. "General Hammond," she greeted him.

"Colonel Carter, Doctor Fraiser," George Hammond beamed at the two women. "I must say both of you look lovely tonight," he added with a twinkle in his eyes. He'd become accustomed to the scenery here in DC with all the events he had to attend, but he'd hardly seen these two in anything but civvies, BDUs or lab coats. Certainly not formal wear.

"Thank you, General," Janet beamed, a smile gracing her features.

"Thanks," Sam blushed, brushing her free hand over the black fabric of her dress.

He waved his hand around as he shook his head. "Please, call me George; I'm retired now."

"Yes Sir," they chorused.

George chuckled under his breath, pleased to see the two of them again. "So, I take it this little bundle is the SGC's latest recruit?"

"Gen- _George_ ," Sam quickly corrected herself with a sheepish smile. "This is Sasha."

"She is such a cutie," he complimented, gazing at the little girl. He'd heard all about her of course, but he hadn't seen her yet. "She looks just like you when you were a baby, Sam only with dark hair. Jacob and your Mom would be so proud of you."

"Thank you, Sir," she whispered, reverting to old habits as she was overcome with emotion at the mention of her late parents. There was one picture in her family album which she treasured; it had been made by her Dad and had her Mom on it, holding her when she was about Sasha's age and Sam had to admit there was a certain resemblance between herself and her daughter. It reminded her that she and Jack should start using the camera and keepsake journals they'd received from some of the civilian staff at the SGC, since they had already missed the first eight or nine weeks of their daughter's life not to mention the entire pregnancy.

"Speaking of family," his tone turned serious, "how is Mark?"

Sam blanched for a moment, recalling the awkward phone conversation she'd had with Mark after they'd returned to Earth. "Um, he's confused… but he's coming over next week, for my birthday and to meet Sasha."

"Good, good," George nodded. "Family is important."

"You know," she started shyly, glancing at Janet before looking at him. "You're probably the closest thing to a grandparent for Sasha. Would you like to hold her?"

"Damn right, Colonel," George replied with a proud grin, before looking abashed as the baby was laid in his arms. "You just pretend you didn't hear that, little lady."

Janet smirked as their former commander cooed over and played with Sasha. He had always been such a kind man, a good leader but it always amazed her when tough military men went soft when holding a baby. It was such an endearing sight to see grown men in awe of a baby.  _Thinking of grown men…_  "Have you seen Daniel or Teal'c, Sir?"

"I believe they were talking to Chapman and Senator Fisher near the bar," he replied without looking up from the gurgling child.

"Be careful, Sir," Sam warned him as her daughter reached for his medals and ribbons. "She likes small and shiny things; she was already examining Jack's rack at home."

George grinned as the chubby hands went for the clusters on his ribbons. "Takes after her Daddy with all that fidgeting, huh?"

Seeing a couple of familiar faces on the other side of the room, Janet poked Sam in the side. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to mingle. It was nice seeing you again, Sir."

"You too, Doctor," he replied. Once the doctor had left, he cast another glance around the room. "Where is Jack by the way? I haven't seen him yet and I doubt he let you come alone."

"He was whisked away by Stan the moment we walked in," Sam explained, referring to the President's Chief of Staff.

Nodding his understanding, George once again thanked his lucky stars he retired and only kept a civilian position in the President's administration – which meant a lot more time to spend with his daughter and grandkids. "I know I should be surprised the two of you brought Sasha along, but SG-1 stopped surprising me years ago," he chuckled softly, still thinking of them – and Daniel Jackson and Teal'c – as his flagship team.

"We've only been back a little over a week," she sighed wearily. "We were a bit surprised by the President's insistence we come, but I guess it was to be expected with Jack's job… Still, we're slightly uncomfortable letting her out of our sights," she confessed.

"Understandable," he agreed wholeheartedly.

Sam gestured in Janet's direction and shrugged. "We'd trust the guys and Janet of course, but they had to be here as well."

"I see."

"But it feels like everyone is staring at us," Sam confessed abashedly. "I just hope she won't start crying or make a scene…"

George smiled at her reassuringly. "I'll bet she's as sweet as you were as a baby. Of course, we can't be too sure with Jack O'Neill being her father…"

Sam laughed softly at his remark, knowing how many times her husband had made his job difficult. She was about to reply when she noticed her husband coming towards them. "Speak of the devil," she muttered under her breath just loud enough for General Hammond to hear, gesturing towards him.

"Hey, I heard that George!" Jack exclaimed as he walked up next to his wife and wrapped an arm around her. "Don't you be giving her any ideas."

"Hell son, she knows you better than I do!" George chuckled while handing the baby over to her mother before clasping the younger man's shoulder. "Besides, I've seen the Colonel in action; she can handle you, Jack."

He smirked broadly, squeezing Sam's waist. "Sure can," was all he said, before leaning down to give his daughter a kiss. "Where'd Fraiser go?"

"To mingle, like we all should."

"Yes Sir," Jack acknowledged with a brief nod, even though he had no intention of leaving his wife and daughter just yet. As a matter of fact, he'd rather leave  _with_  them. But that wasn't an option as Hayes had insisted he'd make rounds and play nice for about two hours. Once Hammond left, he pressed a kiss on Sam's bare shoulder and let out a deep sigh. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?" He complimented her, enjoying the small flush creeping up her neck as he eyed the black dress she was wearing. It had a one cap-sleeved design leaving her left shoulder bare, which he really appreciated since he loved Carter skin.

She blushed and ducked her head. "You look quite handsome yourself," she returned the compliment, enjoying the sight of him in his dress blues with his wayward silver hair. "How was your meeting with the President?"

"Fine," he replied, making a dismissive hand gesture. "Oh, Michelle wants to meet Sasha."

Sam's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh, well I guess we shouldn't keep the First Lady waiting…"

Jack silently agreed, but quickly stole another kiss from her despite knowing how uncomfortable it made her feel. It still felt a bit illicit, even though their marriage was perfectly legal and he enjoyed the opportunity to touch and kiss her openly. But Sam, a by-the-book officer was a bit more hesitant about showing affection in public, especially the White House, now that she had her memory back. "I'll hold her," he offered as Sasha started squirming in her arms, gently placing her head in the crook of his left arm. He could imagine holding the baby in her arms the entire time wasn't too comfortable, after all they didn't have a lot of experience carrying around eleven pounds on their arm all evening. "Hey sweetie," he mumbled once she was settled. "Let's go introduce you to the First Lady and say hi to the President again, okay?"

Watching their interaction, Sam felt her heart swell with love and pride. She hooked her hand around his right arm and gently tugged him towards President Hayes and his wife.

* * *

**White House, Washington DC  
** **Blue Room  
** **2100 hours**

Janet slowly sipped from her glass of champagne while Daniel was cooing at Sasha. She and Sam had just gotten back from the ladies room, having fed and changed Sasha as well as using the restrooms themselves. She had offered to go with Sam, knowing the black one-shoulder cap sleeve A-line dressthe colonel was wearing wasn't exactly nursing-friendly. It looked wonderful on her though and they'd spent hours looking for the right outfit this afternoon until they'd come across the dress when they'd been close to giving up. The dress emphasized her narrow waist without being too tight or squashing her breasts, as Sam had so eloquently put it while trying it on earlier today. Even though it had been a couple of weeks since she'd escaped Ba'al's clutches she still hadn't reached her old weight, but at least she'd gained a few pounds. Her bust was slightly larger though now that she was breastfeeding so it  _had_  been necessary to go shopping for a new outfit today.

After touching up on their makeup, Janet had helped Sam put some of the stray locks back into her French twist and convinced her friend to not yet cut her hair. After all, Sam had been thinking about letting it grow even since she transferred off the front lines and personally Janet thought the long blond hair looked good on her. Not to mention she'd seen the General's appreciative glances at her friend's longer locks.

Catching her own reflection in the window, Janet smiled to herself and admired the strapless white cocktail dress she'd bought which, admittedly, hadn't been a necessary purchase. But she'd fallen in love with it and Sam had agreed she should try it on. Ending just above her knees and with the black sash around the waist it had complimented her short frame and instead of making her look stubby, it highlighted her petite figure in all the right ways. Not buying it would have been a crime and so she had decided to wear it tonight with stockings underneath even if it was December; after all, they were only outside for a few minutes, it was nice and warm indoors.

Once they had rejoined the men in the Blue Room and had some appetizers, it became clear that the evening wasn't over just yet. No matter how tired everyone had already become. Janet hadn't expected smiling and talking to politicians and other military personnel could be so tiring. But she had to stay sharp in her conversations, making sure not to slip as she couldn't discuss the classified nature of her work with all the non-authorized people around them even if whoever she was talking to had clearance. It may be the White House they found themselves in but with all the guests it was as much a public place as any other location – with the exception of the SGC. Shortly after coming back to the group, Sam had to talk to the IOA and General O'Neill had decided to join her, hoping to cut their talk short so they could all go home.

When the General had muttered about those damn politicians poisoning his kid with their personalities she and Daniel had offered to take the baby while the couple did their duty. Teal'c had gone to the bar to get them something to drink and when he'd returned and handed her a glass of champagne the ominous sound of the imperial march – one they were all familiar with after watching  _Star Wars_  for the umpteenth time – had rang from his cell phone. The Jaffa had excused himself to take the call and now it was just the two of them taking turns to hold the baby.

Janet had always wanted to have kids but after thinking about it long and hard, she had come to the conclusion she didn't want kids with her husband because of his behavior and attitude towards her so she'd ended up filing for divorce. Then a few years later Cassandra had come along and she'd immediately considered adopting the young alien refugee once it was clear the girl couldn't go home. Having Cassie in her life was amazing but Janet still thought about having a baby every now and then, especially when friends of her got married and started a family. So, for now she would enjoy Sam's baby! Well, once it was her turn again and she could pry Sasha from Daniel's clutches.

She was brought out of her musings by Daniel poking her side. "What?" Janet asked, her tone a bit sharper than she'd intended. Setting her glass aside, she gave him a bashful smile and took in the sleeping baby in his arms. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

Daniel looked up and smiled broadly at Janet, before his eyes darted around the Blue Room. "Why don't you take her while I go check on Teal'c? I mean, it's not like a lot of people call him on his cell phone. It could be important."

"Okay," Janet readily replied, picking up the slumbering infant and settling her into her arms. "Shh," she hushed when Sasha blinked sleepily at her. "Just go back to sleep, honey." It was obvious to her that the baby wasn't ready to go back to sleep yet, instead Sasha reached out to grab a lock of Janet's hair. Tipping her head, Janet made sure her hair was out of reach and silently rolled her eyes at herself. Hadn't she done Sam's hair in a French twist so that Sasha couldn't grab her mother's hair during the event? She hadn't really considered her own, though and had kept it down after styling it to perfection with her locks curling slightly and the ends just brushing the fabric of her dress.

As she was trying to rock the baby back to sleep, she realized people were looking at her. Sasha was squirming mostly and luckily for Janet the baby didn't cry, but it also seemed she wasn't comfortable. Janet could understand that, after all they'd been here for hours already and the little one had been sleeping in the arms of her parents or their friends, instead of a comfy crib or even a carrier. Not to mention that the routine Sam and General O'Neill had started was disrupted by the party, messing up the infant's bedtimes although Sam had been able to stick with her regular feeding schedule for the most part.

Janet was softly cooing at the baby, rubbing her belly in a soothing manner and generally not paying much attention to her surroundings. When she looked up she realized some of the people – women mostly – had come closer and were looking at Sasha. They started talking to her, complimenting Janet's 'gorgeous' baby and generally babbling about babies, and at first she tried to deny, but soon realized it was of no use so she just nodded and smiled. Some of the women came closer, brushing the baby's soft brown hairs before excusing themselves and returning to their partners no doubt.

Grateful that all the attention had at least calmed Sasha somewhat, Janet glanced around the room wondering where Teal'c and Daniel – or Sam and General O'Neill for that matter – were. She moved closer to wall, which was decorated with all kinds of Christmassy items and breathed a sigh of relief when the baby finally settled in her arms and looked at all the bright decorations in awe. It wasn't until she looked up that Janet noticed one of the women – minus the nearly-bald man she'd assumed to be her husband – had followed her and seemed slightly hesitant to approach. Janet gave the woman a quick onceover while subconsciously securing her grip on the baby, taking in the woman's gray floor-length dress, the slim and tall frame and her light hair, which reached just over the shoulder. Although her features were attractive the woman looked a bit drab, but there was something kind about her. Considering they were in the White House, which was filled with Secret Agents and military personnel, Janet decided the woman was no threat. "Can I help you, Ma'am?" she inquired with a polite smile.

"You're military?" The woman asked in surprise.

"Yes Ma'am."

The blonde shrugged shyly and took a step closer. "I guess I should have known," she gestured around the room, which was filled mostly with military personnel and politicians. "Then again, most soldiers are in uniform."

"I'm in uniform all day," Janet waved with her free hand. "If a Presidential Christmas party isn't a reason to dress up in an outfit of your choice, then what is?"

"Good point, er…" The woman smiled slightly, although it didn't reach her sad eyes. She gestured at Janet's outfit with a questioning look.

"Major," Janet supplied, realizing her rank wasn't visible. "Can I help you with something, Ma'am?"

She floundered a bit, her eyes moving to the baby. "I'm sorry, Major. I didn't mean to intrude, but… I couldn't help but notice how adorable she is and well, my husband was pulled in a conversation. They started discussing the latest golf and election strategies, which would be the fifth time since we've arrived here an hour ago. Frankly, I could use a break. I guess I felt a bit drawn…"

Janet nodded her understanding, already fed up with most of the topics of conversation she'd been going through tonight. "Yes, this little one has gathered quite a fan base tonight," she chuckled. "Do you have any children of your own?" Janet thought the woman looked the mothering type, but regretted her polite inquiry when something flashed in her eyes and her facial expression saddened. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to pry, Ma'am."

"It's all right," she said reassuringly, but with a wistful smile. "I, er… I-I don't have… any children. My son died-"

"Oh my, I'm so sorry," Janet was quick to apologize. It was hard for her to imagine losing Cassandra, although she'd come close once and she knew how devastated – not to mention depressed and suicidal – General O'Neill was when he'd lost his child.

"It was a long time ago."

Despite the brave face the woman put on, Janet knew it affected her far more than she led on. "I don't think losing a child is something you can overcome," she replied in a sympathetic tone. "I can't imagine what I'd do if I'd lost my daughter."

The blonde stepped closer and gently reached out to Sasha, who immediately grabbed her finger in a chubby little fist once it was near. "I hope you'll never have to find out," was her soft reply, her eyes glued to the baby. "She is so precious."

"Oh," Janet mumbled, about to explain she was referring to Cassandra, when the nearly-bald man from earlier came over to them.

"I was looking for you, dear," he spoke to the woman, sending Janet a polite smile as he placed a hand on the woman's waist.

"Dick," the woman turned to him, "I was just talking to Major…"

"Fraiser," Janet supplied, realizing she hadn't fully introduced herself. "Doctor Janet Fraiser, actually."

The woman smiled and nodded. "Well, Doctor Fraiser, this is my husband, Senator Dick Kozak."

"A pleasure, Sir," she replied.

"The pleasure is all mine, Doctor," Dick replied, grinning. "My wife already mentioned your adorable daughter earlier, before I ran into Senator Fisher; I should have known I could find her with you."

Janet shook her head and glanced down at the baby in her arms. "Oh no, Sasha isn't my daughter. I-"

"She's not?" Dick inquired, his brows rising in surprise.

"I don't understand; I thought… you just said…"

Janet grimaced as the blonde woman took a step away, a puzzled frown on her face. "I'm watching the baby for friends, they had to talk to some coworkers and Sasha was in need of some sleep. Earlier, I was talking about my own daughter, Cassie," she added, not wanting the other woman to think she'd been making stuff up when she'd told her about her son.

* * *

**White House, Washington DC  
** **Cross Halls  
** **2110 hours**

Teal'c immediately noticed Daniel Jackson emerging from the Blue Room apparently in search of someone, while he continued to listen to General Landry. "Indeed," he replied, while inclining his head in greeting as the Tau'ri archeologist walked in his direction. "I concur, General Landry."

" _I thought you might, Teal'c._ Prometheus _is still in orbit and can beam you back to the SGC, but I'm sure Master Bra'tac will understand if you want to wait until the party is over."_

"I shall inform Daniel Jackson and O'Neill of these developments," he replied gravely. "Master Bra'tac would not have contacted Stargate Command if he did not think my presence was required."

" _Very well, contact Colonel Pendergast when you're ready for transport."_

Teal'c raised his brow but assumed General Landry had retired for the evening and had only been contacted by the sergeant on duty this evening after Master Bra'tac had dialed Earth. "Indeed," he intoned, before ending the phone conversation.

"Is something wrong?" Daniel asked, worry etched on his face. He'd been waiting for the Jaffa to end his phone call, instead of interrupting him. After all, only HWS and SGC personnel had his cell phone number as far as he was aware so it had to be important. "Inform me of what?"

Placing his cellular phone in his breast pocket, Teal'c nodded solemnly, the corners of his mouth drooping in disdain. "Master Bra'tac has requested my presence on Dakara. It appears Arkad is attempting to undermine our newly created democracy and is scheming with several of the Jaffa High Council members."

"Oh," Daniel mumbled, not entirely surprised by this turn of events after hearing Teal'c's stories about the Jaffa without honor. "Well, of course you should go."

"I shall inform O'Neill before contacting Colonel Pendergast for my immediate transportation."

"I think he and Sam are still talking to the IOA representatives," Daniel replied as he pushed up his glasses. "He'll probably be glad for the interruption."

Teal'c grinned slightly and inclined his head. "Indeed."

"I'll go get Janet and Sasha so you can say goodbye before you leave," he added, knowing it would probably be a while before Teal'c would get to see the baby again. After receiving an almost imperceptible nod from the Jaffa, Daniel led the way to the Blue Room, smiling and waving at some of the other guests before he and Teal'c split up. It took him a few minutes to locate Janet by the window, since she didn't really stand out with her height but luckily her white dress caught his eye. It appeared she was engrossed in conversation with an older couple and he was hesitant to interrupt. But he knew she'd want to say goodbye to Teal'c and the Jaffa would want the same. His eyes darted around the room and it appeared the Jaffa had already found their friends; the three of them stood out amongst the other guests and he could see the married couple turning slightly away from whomever they were talking to as Teal'c broke the news of his departure.

When Janet was finished explaining she was only watching Sasha for friends, she looked up and saw Daniel coming towards her. Smiling, she waited until he reached her and the baby. "Daniel! Let me introduce you to Senator Kozak and his wife-"

"Sara?" Daniel gaped for a few seconds, before he shook his head trying to clear it.

"You two know each other?"Janet questioned, looking from the blonde woman to Daniel.

"Ah, um, I'm sorry," he stammered a bit. Straightening his glasses, Daniel gestured towards her. "We, ah, officially met a few weeks ago."

Dick pensively rubbed his chin, peering at the young man. "Yes… Doctor Jackson, right?" He said slowly, remembering the other Presidential event during which they'd met.

"Please, call me Daniel," he replied, before turning to Janet. "Um, Sara is, er… Jack's ex-wife."

Janet's eyes widened and she unconsciously tightened her grip on Sasha, turning slightly towards Daniel – and away from the woman. She gave the older blond woman another onceover, trying to conjure up one of the pictures she had seen of General O'Neill's ex-wife for comparison. Perhaps there was a certain resemblance, but those pictures were over a decade old and the few times she'd seen them, Janet's attention had been focused on their late son, Charlie. "I-I had no idea," she said slowly.

"You know Jack too?" Sara questioned, seeing the surprise on the petite doctor's face. Turning to the young man, she gave him a polite nod. "Doctor Jacks-eh," she closed her eyes and shook her head slightly when he opened his mouth to protest. "Daniel," she corrected herself, "it's nice to see you again."

"Yes," Daniel smiled at her, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. Glancing at Janet, he realized she was still in shock. "Janet is the base's CMO, she's um… Jack's doctor too, even though he's living here now. I take it you haven't seen him yet?" he asked politely, gesturing around them.

Sara shrugged, looking slightly bewildered as she glanced from Jack's friends to her husband. "I had no idea he'd be here."

"Neither did I," Dick mumbled, tightening the grip on his wife's waist. He hadn't come across his wife's ex-husband since last time and frankly, he'd been relieved. After all, if the rumors were true then General O'Neill had quite some influence here in DC and Dick hadn't looked forward to running into the man at every important event.

Daniel grimaced slightly as he saw the subject of their conversation come their way, together with Sam and Teal'c. Nudging Janet, careful of the baby in her arms, he jerked his head in their direction. "Murray got a call from base; he's needed… back home and has to leave."

"Of course," Janet muttered, nodding in understanding at what he wasn't saying. She frowned slightly when the Jaffa, General O'Neill and Sam came closer though. What was she supposed to say or do? She doubted General O'Neill had contacted his ex to tell him about his daughter, news she guessed would hit the woman pretty hard considering their past. Before she could do anything though, the trio came up behind the Kozaks.

"How's the munchkin doing, Doc?" Jack asked as he slipped past the people she and Daniel apparently were talking to, his eyes on his daughter and ignoring everyone else. With a grin, he lifted her from Fraiser's arms and nuzzled Sasha's dark wispy hair before giving her a kiss and cradling her in his arms. "Sam," he turned back, knowing his wife would be right behind him. "Why don't you- Sara," he gasped, as he laid eyes on his ex-wife. He silently cursed himself for not paying more attention to his surroundings – DC obviously had a bad influence on him – as he continued to stare at the equally shocked woman. "Crap," he muttered under his breath, dragging a hand through his hair in frustration.

Glancing from his friend to Sara, to Sam, back to Jack and the baby, Daniel took a deep breath. "Oh boy," he murmured. "We'll just… be over there."

Janet nodded and practically dragged Daniel and Teal'c with her, after sending Sam a sympathetic glance.

"Maybe I should…" Sam said softly, gesturing towards the entrance hall. When Teal'c had informed her and Jack, her husband had seen it as the perfect opportunity to leave as well, using the excuse that Janet and Daniel could beam over to the SGC with Teal'c instead of having to go back later and disturb the crew on  _Prometheus_ while they could take Sasha home. She hadn't expected to run into Sara today and she knew Jack hadn't either, but he'd also told her that he felt the need to inform his ex-wife about Sasha… Sam figured perhaps she should just leave the two of them to talk, get her coat, the diaper bag and finally get her daughter back into her carrier.

"Stay," Jack's hand shot out to grab her arm and tug her closer. "Look Sara…" he awkwardly cleared his throat and readjusted his hold on his daughter as she started squirming. His ex-wife still hadn't said anything, but she seemed to be waiting for him to explain so, after a quick glance at her husband, he decided to forge ahead. "I wanted to tell you and obviously I didn't want you to find out this way–"

"So, it's true?" she whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat. "She," Sara gestured at the infant, "is yours?"

He nodded uncomfortably and glanced at Sam. "Yeah, Sasha is ours."

Sara frowned, her eyes darting between the couple until she felt her own husband giving her arm a comforting squeeze. "I don't understand, why didn't you tell me last time? I mean," she gave the younger blond woman a quick onceover, "it didn't look like you were expecting…" As a matter of fact, the woman had looked rather skinny both times she'd run into them – in DC and in Colorado.

"Oy," Jack mumbled, his voice muffled as he scrubbed a hand over his face. "It's a long story actually." Seeing a familiar expression on her face, he sighed and tried to explain. "Sam, ah… she, um, was pregnant when she was abducted…"

Hearing his pained voice, Sam quickly jumped in. "We didn't know at the time," she continued, sending Jack a wistful smile. "Then when I came back I had trauma-induced amnesia and it wasn't until recently that I got my memory back." Janet had decided that would be the most plausible explanation to give Mark and other inquiring people that didn't have clearance. "We're very lucky that we were able to find her again and get her back."

"Definitely," Dick commented, "someone must have been looking over you."

Sara nodded slowly in agreement, not entirely sure of how she was supposed to react. Having lived with Jack for years, she recognized a cover story when she heard one. But looking at both their faces and their gurgling baby, she realized they weren't lying per se just not telling the entire truth. Considering the mysterious circumstances of the woman's abduction, she figured the details were classified and she'd learned to accept that. "I'm happy for you, Jack," she said in an emotional voice. "You deserve to be happy." His lips quirked in a faint smile and she figured he didn't really believe it. No matter how painful it was to know he'd been given another chance with a new wife and a baby, Sara couldn't deny that after everything he'd gone through he deserved happiness. "I mean it, Jack," she added. Gripping her husband's arm tighter and taking a deep breath, she forced down her own feelings of loss and smiled. "I know you'll be a great father to her."

Sam heard the catch in her voice and had to swallow against her own emotions. Her husband, however, had tensed at the words. Sliding her hand against his, she interlaced their fingers and slightly leaned into him for silent support. Up until the moment she knew Sasha was in Ba'al's clutches, Sam had never been able to fully grasp the emotional hellhole Jack and Sara must have gone through with losing Charlie. Only when faced with the possibility of losing her daughter had she been able to imagine it and it made her realize even more how strong Jack was – and Sara as well, to have survived such a loss. "I'm only sorry Sasha will never get to meet her half-brother," Sam said aloud, wanting the other woman to know that having their daughter didn't mean Jack would forget about his late son. "Jack told me what a wonderful boy Charlie was and we'll make sure she knows all about him."

"I would like that," Sara replied, her eyes brimming with tears. The mention of her little boy threatened to overwhelm her and with a watery smile she reached out one last time to caress the girl's dark hair. "Treasure her, Jack."

"I will," Jack whispered in a hoarse tone, finally finding his voice again. "Thank you, Sara."

Dick recognized the emotional turmoil in his wife's eyes and nodded at the other couple. "We should get going," he announced, knowing it was becoming too much for Sara. "I'm glad to hear you're all reunited."

Before Jack or Sam could say another word, Senator Dick Kozak whisked his wife away, leaving the two of them standing there.

"Let's find the others and go home, Jack," Sam murmured, bringing up their linked hands to press a kiss on his fingers.


	3. Christmas Day

**December 25, 2005  
** **Carter-O'Neill residence, Washington DC  
** **2000 hours**

Sam stealthily crept back into the living room, determined not to disturb her husband or daughter, after getting rid of some of the dishes. Their first Christmas together had been spent leisurely just like she and Jack had decided after the emotional rollercoaster they'd gone through lately. There hadn't been any presents since they'd hardly had time to go out shopping and they didn't feel it was necessary. Right now, they were more than happy with each other's company and their little girl. Besides, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c had spent most of yesterday unpacking and setting up all the presents their friends and coworkers had bought for Sasha making it feel like Christmas already, while Sam had gone out shopping for a new dress with Janet.

She'd been a bit reluctant to leave Sasha at home though, but considering the event and her lack of proper clothes she'd felt it necessary to go. Besides, she left her daughter in good hands and knew how crazy the guys were about Sasha; they adored her and loved holding and cuddling her, even Teal'c! Jack had told her to just go, even though she suspected he wasn't entirely happy with the planning since they'd just gotten in DC late that morning and only had a couple of hours to get all the baby stuff ready before heading to the White House. But she also knew her husband would enjoy spending some time alone with the guys and their baby as he'd been working so hard at the SGC since their return to Earth and had hardly had time to spend with Sasha, since Sam was taking care of her mostly throughout the day, carrying her around base either in the carrier or the sling SG-3 had gifted them with because she was breastfeeding.

Now, Jack was lying on the blanket and pillows they'd strewn on the floor in front of the fire, with Sasha cooing and gurgling at his side. Sam smiled as she heard him talk to their daughter in hushed tones. She enjoyed watching them, seeing him totally relaxed and doting on their baby. This past week they'd both been busy and it seemed like they never had enough time to simply enjoy their new family life, but luckily Jack's leave would start Monday and she'd applied for maternity leave, considering she hadn't had any. But for now she was officially still on medical leave, even though that hadn't stopped Landry and others at the SGC to request her help when she'd been around for a checkup at the infirmary or visiting Jack – not that she minded, because sitting at home all day waiting for Jack to come home didn't seem too appealing either – and President Hayes had assured her last night there wouldn't be any problems with her request.

She wasn't even sure what she was going to do once she was cleared for duty and her maternity leave was up; Sam didn't think she'd go back to SG-1, fighting on the front lines and living in a different state than Jack. Obviously he had more regular hours so it would make sense for him to take care of Sasha, but she didn't think she'd be able to be separated from them and traipse around the galaxy on a daily basis, especially not without her friends. Teal'c had joined the Jaffa High Council and only occasionally traveled to Earth and she was sure Daniel would soon be begging to finally be allowed to join the Atlantis Expedition, since he'd stayed on Earth after her disappearance. Perhaps she could go back to research, but she really didn't want to go back to living in Nevada either. With a sigh she decided to leave it be for the moment and focus on her family, after all she still had at least six weeks before she'd have to resume her duty.

Taking a few more steps into the living room, she smiled at the picture Jack and Sasha made in front of the fire, with the dancing flames and Christmas tree lights casting a homey glow over them. She had no idea when Jack, Daniel and Teal'c had time to get a tree and decorate it in between setting up the nursery, but she was glad they had. Sam padded closer on her sock-clad feet, grinning when she caught Jack's eye. "Hey," she said softly as she kneeled down on a pillow, placing a hand on his hip.

"Hey yourself," Jack chuckled. After tickling Sasha's tummy one last time, he moved his hand to his wife's and interlaced their fingers. "I was wondering where you were."

"Just cleaning up," she replied.

He frowned slightly when she didn't move at all. "Aren't you going to join us?" Jack freed his hand and gestured between him and their daughter, before patting the spot Sam had vacated earlier.

"I think I'll just hop into the shower, put on something comfortable and then I won't move from this spot on the floor until it's time for bed, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded. His eyes darted to the clock and he reached out to his wife to stop her from getting up. "Wait, what about Sasha? It's almost time for you to feed her."

"I'll be quick," Sam promised, flashing him a smile.

Jack reluctantly let go of her arm and watched her until she left the room. "I guess it's just you and me, munchkin," he said, focusing on the baby. He tenderly brushed over Sasha's wispy hairs as she blinked her blue eyes at him, once again he felt his heart swell and wondered how he could have made something –  _someone_  – so perfect. It had felt the same way when Charlie had been born, but Jack had figured it was because he'd never had a baby before and never experienced that kind of overwhelming and unconditional love for such a tiny human being. And even though Sasha didn't look a lot like Charlie, who he thought took after Sara, Jack still thought she was perfect too.

"Let's hope you take after your Mommy too," he murmured to his daughter. She had Sam's eyes and they knew some of the knowledge from the Ancient's repository would slowly unfold in her mind as she grew older, so Jack assumed she'd be smart like Sam too. Sasha's hair though… it was still soft baby hair and he could only hope she hadn't inherited his unruly hair, because he doubted it could look good on a girl. Sasha already had a mop of brownish hair – unlike Charlie as a baby, whose hair had been much lighter and thinner – and it was more his natural color than Sam's blond hair.

He caressed Sasha's chubby cheek when she yawned and let out a sigh of his own, trying to clear his mind. Running into Sara last night had been awkward, not in the least because he'd been unprepared. Jack had already told Sam that he felt he should contact his ex-wife and tell her about their daughter, but he'd been too busy catching up on all the paperwork involved in their quest for Sasha to look up her new address. He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he had expected but he'd never been very good in dealing with feelings or crying women, usually he would resort to giving them a hug but that wasn't really his place anymore. Luckily for him, Sara's new husband had whisked her away when it seemed like it was becoming too much for her. But the whole experience had brought back memories of Charlie too… At least these days he could think back on the good stuff too, Jack decided. He'd make sure to share those memories with his daughter when she was old enough to understand, just like Sam had told Sara.

Jack's eyes caught Sasha's blue gaze and he smirked as she scrunched up her little face and started squirming. "Mommy will be back soon," he promised, tapping her little nose. God, he could watch her all day, he thought. As a matter of fact, that's exactly what he and Sam had done their first night back on Earth. Dixon had provided them with a crib within an hour of their return, adamant that they'd keep it in the hopes his wife would stop talking about a fifth baby, and after everything had calmed down and they'd been cleared at the infirmary, Jack and Sam had put Sasha to bed. They'd spent the night sitting by her crib and just watching their little girl in awe. They'd spent most of today doing the same; just being together and spending their first holiday together as a family. With his paternity leave starting Monday, Jack looked forward to adapting to their new family life. Knowing Hammond would take over at HWS allowed him to fully relax and enjoy his wife and daughter.

Without having to slave away at the Pentagon during the day, Jack had promised Sam that he'd do the midnight feeding and tend to Sasha if she woke up during the night – but he was hopeful she'd continue sleeping until morning after her last feeding – so that Sam could stay in bed and sleep through the night as well. Sam was using the breast pump that had been gifted by the infirmary personnel in preparation of going back to work and just in case she couldn't breastfeed Sasha for some reason. Jack was only too happy to take over bottle duty when it was necessary, because then he'd be more actively involved in the moment instead of just watching his wife nurse their daughter. And those moments, when it was just him and Sasha were special for him too, just like he knew Sam enjoyed the bonding experience.

When he heard a creak, Jack looked over his shoulder to see Sam, dressed in a robe with cotton PJ pants underneath and fluffy socks, coming down the wooden stairs. Her hair was resting over her shoulder in a braid, with a few locks of hair framing her face and she was smiling brightly at them.

"Just in time," he told her, returning her smile. "Sasha was getting impatient."

"She'll have to wait a bit longer," Sam replied as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Why?"

Instead of joining them in the living room, Sam walked down the hall to retrieve her latest project. "Because," she said, after retrieving the case and walking back to him, "I have something for you."

"A present?" Jack asked warily, wondering what had happened to their agreement to not get presents for each other. Oh crap, did that mean she expected him to have something for her too? "Because you know how I feel about surprises…"

She had a suspicion of what was going through his head so she just grinned. "It's something I wanted to share with you… it's not wrapped," she added as she rolled the black hard case into the room.

"Oh my, it's a hard case," he teasingly said as he sat up to get a good look at it. "A big one on wheels… you should know that I'm not planning on taking all my paperwork home no matter how big of a case I have, Carter," he joked.

Sam rolled her eyes, ignoring his joke and sat down next to him. Opening the case slowly, she showed him the contents. "It's about what's inside."

"You took one of your doohickeys off base?" Jack questioned with raised brows. He hadn't expected her to do something like that. "Wait, we took that with us when we were beamed over?"

"I got permission to take it off base. It's an adapted version of the Galaran memory implant device," she explained patiently.

He frowned in confusion, peering at the device before looking at his wife. "Why?" Even though he could see the benefits of using the device the Galarans had originally intended, Jack felt it was a dangerous thing if it fell in the wrong hands; he only had to look at her to be reminded of what Ba'al had done to her and Sasha. He certainly couldn't understand why she'd taken it with her or what she wanted him to do with it.

"Because I want to share something with you," Sam explained hesitantly. She hadn't been sure if this was a good idea, knowing how strongly he could react at times but she was hoping her work hadn't been for nothing.

"What?" he asked, feeling suspicious and at the same time wondering what it could possibly be. "When did you have time to work on this anyway?"

She started collecting the wires and electrodes and made a vague hand gesture. "When I was at the SGC and not needed for something else; I left instructions for Lieutenant Hailey and Doctor Lee so they could do most of the modifications."

"Delegating already?" Jack quipped with a smirk. She'd never been good at delegating when still at the SGC, although it had slowly become better when she was in command of SG-1, but he was glad to see commanding Stargate Research and Development at Area 51 had taught her a thing or two.

Sam merely smiled and turned to him, wires in hand. "I have most of my memory back but that doesn't mean we didn't miss out on a lot…" She let her voice trail off as she looked at Sasha, who was still lying next to him.

"Yeah well," he mumbled awkwardly, preferring not be reminded of what had been taken from them – at least they had their daughter with them now. "We still have plenty of years to look forward to."

"It took me a while to pinpoint the right memories, but I hope this will make up for some of the lost time," she explained with a hopeful look. "I want you to know it wasn't all bad. I mean, I was scared what would happen at the end of my pregnancy but despite the circumstances I enjoyed being pregnant with your child. This," Sam held up the electrodes for him to see, "will hopefully show you that."

Jack raised a skeptical brow at her; they'd hardly been back on Earth and she'd already modified some piece of alien technology and she thought it had taken her 'a while'? "So, what does it do?" He reluctantly inquired, even though he was a bit curious.

"It allows you to see and experience some of my memories," she explained with a small smile. "I've minimized some of the sensory experience," Sam added. She didn't think it was a good idea for him to truly experience what it was like to go through labor for example. But she wanted him to experience some of the pregnancy since they had both missed out on so many moments with their daughter. Seeing he was still wary, she sighed and sat back. "Jack, do you trust me?"

"With my life," he replied without hesitation. "You're sure this thing is… safe?" When she nodded an affirmative he gave in. "Okay, where do you want me?"

Biting her lip pensively, she looked around before shrugging. "I guess you can just lie back while I apply these." When he did as told, Sam placed the leads on his face and neck and leaned back. "All set, you can use these to stop or pause – don't touch the other ones."

Jack glanced at the buttons she'd indicated he could touch – play, stop, pause, and rewind – and lay back again. "What'cha doing?"

"She's hungry and it's getting late," Sam replied as she picked up Sasha. She figured she could feed their daughter and put her to bed while Jack was hooked up to the device, but it looked like he had other plans.

"You can stay here and feed her," he protested. "What if this thing malfunctions?"

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she gave in and settled down next to him. Stretching her lithe frame, she lay on her side facing him while holding Sasha against her chest. Sam smiled to herself as she realized she was getting better at handling the baby when she opened her robe and Sasha immediately latched on and started drinking. "I'll stay," she reassured her husband.

Jack smiled warmly at her before glancing down at their greedily drinking daughter. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was with Sam at his side and their beautiful baby safe in her arms… When he heard his wife clear her throat, he tore his gaze away and realized she was waiting for him to activate the device. Sitting up slightly, he fluffed up a pillow to place under his head before reaching over to the device's controls. "You're sure this won't electrocute me?"

Sam snorted, startling her daughter who looked up with wide eyes. "I'm sure," she assured him while tenderly brushing Sasha's hair. "Sergeant Siler tested it."

"With your memories?" he asked, his hand frozen above the play button.

"No," she shook her head softly, shooting him an amused look. "Doctor Lee volunteered to share some of his memories from his latest off-world mission for testing."

Jack nodded his approval and pushed down on the button. "Now what?" He asked as he lay down on the pillows, his head turned towards his wife and daughter.

Sam waited for the leads to light up while keeping an eye on his face. "Just close your eyes and relax; it'll start any minute."

Doing as he was told, Jack took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt a tingle go through the leads and he shuddered involuntarily as the device kicked in. "It tingles," he muttered.

"I know," she replied, patting his chest comfortingly. Intent on having Sasha switch breasts, Sam awkwardly rolled on her back to shift the baby in her arms. When she had a good hold on her daughter, she turned back to him to keep a watch his reactions for any signs of discomfort while Sasha started suckling again. The moment he gasped and furrowed his brow, she knew he'd been taken back to what she'd made her first memories throughout the pregnancy. It had been a difficult process to capture the right memories and allowing them to flow over into each as if making a movie, but she figured that was the only way to ensure he got the good and none of the bad ones.

Jack hadn't been sure of what to expect, but suddenly he felt different and although it wasn't the same as watching a homemade video it felt as if he was looking through Sam's eyes and experiencing her emotions. He couldn't quite describe it, something of a mix between watching a movie and dreaming. But it was amazing to experience what she'd gone through as he 'looked' down and saw her hand on her stomach; at first it was flat but as the memories continued a small bump was forming and soon her belly was protruding from her tall frame. He could feel  _her_  amazement, her love and emotions as the memories flowed through him and he'd swear he could sense the baby growing inside of her. He startled when he heard her voice the first time but as she continued talking to her baby bump he relaxed and enjoyed being privy to her most inner deep thoughts, memories and emotions. Although it wasn't the same as experiencing the nine-month pregnancy with her, it was  _something_  and he suddenly felt so connected to her and the baby.

When another voice, more metallic and unfortunately familiar was heard in the background Jack immediately tensed. A shudder went through him when a smirking Ba'al appeared in Sam's memories but luckily most of his voice was drowned out – no doubt Sam's doing – and although Jack could read lips, he preferred not to and instead focused on the feelings that went through Sam when Ba'al apparently instructed someone to scan her and the baby with some alien-looking device Jack had never seen before. Despite Ba'al being present, he couldn't help but smile when Sam laid eyes on the image of their unborn child for the first time. A rush of emotions Sam's went through him, love and fierce protectiveness most familiar to him.

The next thing he experienced was Sam being examined by someone he assumed was acting as a midwife before another slightly familiar person – Astarte – appeared and used the healing device on his wife. It took Jack a few minutes to realize that Sam was now in labor and he was somewhat surprised by the Goa'uld's help in pain relief and how quickly the entire process passed. But by the time their daughter was born and – after an examination by the 'midwife' and Astarte, which left Sam exhausted and anxious – placed in Sam's arms, he was overcome with Sam's feelings and his own in reaction to the memories.

Jack frowned when everything suddenly turned black before he realized it was because his eyes were still closed and the device had been turned off. Blinking rapidly he tried to adjust to the glow coming from the fire and Christmas tree lights – the only illumination in the living room – and his eyes immediately sought out Sam. "Wha-"

"That was all of it," she explained with a hesitant smile, unsure of how he felt about it all. When modifying the device, she'd made sure to instruct Doctor Lee to add some extra functions to the interface so that the memory device could be used without the chair and all the extra equipment the Galarans had used. A small light would flicker when the memory sequence was at its end so that the subject could be eased back to reality. She'd kept an eye on the light after reading Jack's facial expressions and knowing how long the sequence was so that she could turn the device off once Jack had reached the end. All in all, the sequence came nowhere near the full length of her pregnancy but she'd been able to get the most important parts that weren't linked to bad memories and she knew that Jack knew that too, there was no need to mention it. "Maybe you should take a minute…"

He shook his head in denial and sat up, pulling the leads from his face and neck. The transition from experiencing Sam's memories to being back in his living room wasn't entirely smooth, but it was nothing he could handle. "I'm fine," he assured her.

"What did you think of the device?" Sam cautiously asked, also sitting up and placing her hand on his thigh.

Jack stared at her anxious features as he tried to come up with an answer. "It was…" he let his voice trail off and cleared his throat when she subconsciously leaned in. Quirking his lips, he grinned at her and reached out to stroke her cheek. "It was the best Christmas present, Carter."

"You mean that?" She inquired with uncertainty coloring her voice as her brows knitted together in confusion. "I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it but this was the closest thing I could think of to show you-"

"I mean it," he reassured her, placing a finger on her lips to silence her. "I don't know how you did it but you showed me something I couldn't even imagine… I know all this," he waved his hand around, "isn't how it's supposed to be for normal people. I should have been with you throughout the pregnancy and you should have been here, safely on Earth instead of…"

"I know," Sam whispered with a wan smile. "But we never really did do normal."

Jack chuckled softly before leaning forward and kissing her gently. "Maybe next time," he suggested, before awkwardly clearing his throat and leaving the statement hanging in the air – they'd never discussed having kids and he wasn't sure she actually wanted more after the traumatic experience she'd gone through. "Anyway… knowing how you got through this,  _experiencing_  everything you felt and thought throughout the pregnancy and labor, it's more than I could have wished for." He was still a bit in awe over how she basically allowed him to be in her head, privy to every thought and emotion and he wasn't sure if could have done the same if their situations were reversed. "Knowing you trust me enough to literally be here," he tapped her temple with his hand, "and here," his hand closed over her heart, "and share all this with me…" Jack sighed, searching for the right words to properly express himself. "It's overwhelming, Carter."

Her breath hitched when she saw him struggle for words and she realized that she'd made the right decision to do this, to show him everything. She hadn't expected such a heartfelt response and now she was at a loss for words. "You know I trust you with everything Jack; my life, my love, my heart and mind… our daughter."

"C'mere," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his chest. "God, I love you, Sam," he whispered in her hair. It wasn't until Sasha, who'd been lying on Sam's lap the entire time, started squirming that they broke apart. Reaching for their daughter, he lifted her and buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling that unique baby scent. "I love you too, munchkin."

* * *

**Sasha's Room  
** **Carter-O'Neill residence, Washington DC  
** **2200 hours**

Sam winced slightly as she entered the baby room, her slight headache growing stronger with Sasha's crying and she briefly wondered what had happened to her quiet daughter from last week. She'd even asked Janet if the lack of crying was something to be concerned about, but right now Sam was wishing her daughter would use her lungs a little less often. With the pair Sasha had, they didn't really need the baby monitor system the SFs and techs had given them as a belated baby shower gift because the crying had been heard loud and clear downstairs. The system itself was very much appreciated though, even if the flat screen monitor that was hooked up to the camera overlooking the nursery was huge and took up quite a bit of space on the cabinet in the living room. She had hooked it up yesterday before she and Janet had gone shopping and the boys had finished up the nursery, but today they had left the screen off and only used the audio monitor after putting Sasha to bed so they could enjoy the cozy atmosphere downstairs.

Walking up to the crib, Sam leaned over to lift Sasha in her arms. "Shh," she tried to hush her daughter, rubbing her back soothingly as she kept her close to her heart. When the crying finally stopped, she leaned back a bit to look at the familiar blue eyes and smiled. "There, there," she murmured. Brushing her lips over her chubby cheek, Sam pressed a kiss in Sasha's hair before padding over to the changing table. She was slightly surprised at how adept she'd become at changing diapers these past couple of days as she undressed her daughter, got rid of the wet diaper and cleaned her up. Her head whipped around when she heard the door open and Sam smiled brightly when her husband peeked inside.

"Humming?" Jack questioned as he pushed the door open fully and stepped inside.

"I am?"

He nodded, coming to a halt behind her. "You are."

Sam glanced over her shoulder, keeping one hand on Sasha's tummy and using the other to smooth out the small frown on Jack's forehead. She recalled them having a similar conversation in a much more awkward situation and wrinkled her nose at the fleeting memory before shaking her head to clear her mind. "I'm just enjoying our first Christmas as a family," she explained with a bright smile.

"Me too," Jack whispered, mesmerized by her smile. Reaching up, he wrapped his fingers around hers and pulled her hand from his forehead. With a grin, he pressed a kiss on her palm before releasing it.

"I'm feeling a bit tired," Sam confessed after she turned back to their daughter. "Too much excitement yesterday, I guess."

He understood and gently squeezed her shoulder. "Why don't you go lie down?"

"I wanted to bathe Sasha first; maybe that'll let her sleep better tonight," she replied. Last night had proven to be tiring for all of them – even Daniel and Janet who she'd briefly spoken to earlier today on the phone – and Sasha had slept like a baby at first but she'd been a bit grumpy this morning and had stayed awake a lot today, only nodding off every now and then. Obviously their carefully executed routine had been disturbed by the party and now their daughter couldn't sleep properly. Sam wasn't looking forward to be woken up by their baby's cries in the middle of the night, despite her husband's assurance that he would take care of Sasha now that his paternity leave was coming up. It would still wake her, after all and she hadn't been able to get back to sleep last night either after Sasha had woken up for the umpteenth time and Jack had told her to stay in bed.

Jack could hear the reluctance in her tone and nuzzled her hair. "Why don't I take her?"

"I thought you wanted a shower?" Sam questioned, looking at him over her shoulder. They'd been lying in front of the fire together, just enjoying being together when the baby had awoken again. All the cuddling and the warmth of the fire was very enjoyable, but it had also added to her sleepiness especially in combination with her shower earlier. But Jack wanted to take a shower before going to bed, or so he'd said. She assumed it was to clear his head a bit after the emotional rollercoaster she'd put him through with the modified memory implant device. It couldn't have been easy for him to go through her experiences, even if she'd only picked the happy ones. He didn't deal with emotions and feelings well, so she really couldn't blame him for needing some space and a shower to relax.

Slowly, a genuine smile formed on Jack's face. "Charlie used to love taking a shower with me or Sara when he was a baby… if I was home we forewent the baby bath tub and simply took him with us in the shower."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he smirked, recalling how his boy had enjoyed the water mist and would try to catch the rivulets of water running down his chest. "It would be easier though if you could take her once I've rinsed her off, so that I can finish up and she won't get cold."

Sam nodded in understanding and lifted Sasha from the changing table. "Sure, why don't you get ready while I grab some towels and then I'll hand her to you." It was a good thing Jack had so much experience, because she wasn't sure if she would have tried it herself. At least not yet, maybe if their baby was a little older because Sam figured she'd be scared of dropping her or letting her wet body slip through her fingers. Besides, she also wasn't sure where Daniel had put the baby bath tub and toys SG-5 had given them. "Ready for your first shower, Sasha?" She asked her daughter as she walked over to the closet where the cute hooded towels were. Her daughter cooed and smiled in return, which warmed Sam's heart. After getting all the things, she went over to the master bedroom and into the en suite. "Jack?" She called out over the sound of the shower as she closed the door behind her.

Opening the shower door, he peeked his head out with an impish grin. "Ready?"

"Yeah sure you bet'cha," she replied after placing the towels on the counter.

"Okay," he opened the door further and leaned forward. "Do you mind staying close and keeping a washcloth ready just in case she decided she doesn't like getting the water in her face?"

Sam shook her head and stepped up to him. "There you go," she mumbled to her daughter after placing her in his arms. "Be careful!"

"Don't worry, I won't drop her," he smirked. "Sure you don't want to join us?"

She giggled at his leer and shook her head again. "Maybe if I hadn't showered already."

"Here goes nothing," Jack muttered as he turned back to the shower cradling his daughter. He made sure to let the water fall on his back and shoulders instead of hitting Sasha in the face. Shifting her in his arms, he held her against his chest with one arm with her face near his shoulder. She wrinkled her little nose and opened her mouth trying to catch and taste the water, before she smiled and patted her hand on his chest. He laughed when her blue eyes grew bigger in amazement and when he turned slightly to let a bit more water fall on her back she chuckled softly. "That's my girl!"

Sam, who'd decided to forego her little nap and witness her daughter's first shower, beamed at them. Jack was such a great father and it was amazing watching him with their daughter, but hearing Sasha's little chuckle made it all even better. Their baby hadn't smiled a lot yet, at least not spontaneously and although she seemed happy and content, this was the first time she'd really chuckled. Still smiling, Sam handed Jack the baby shower gel and simply watched as he lathered and rinsed her.

After a few more minutes of letting Sasha enjoy the shower, Jack pressed a kiss on her little nose and gestured for Sam to get a towel ready. "There you go, sweetie."

Wrapping the hooded towel around her, Sam cuddled her daughter close. "I have a feeling we're not going to be needing that baby tub a lot," she told Jack, who just smirked at her. "I'll take her back to the nursery and tuck her in."

Jack nodded and watched them go, before he turned around in the shower and quickly lathered himself and washed his hair. After rinsing off, he turned off the shower and grabbed a towel of his own. He made quick work of brushing his teeth and drying himself off. Within minutes he wrapped the towel around his waist and left the misty bathroom. As he walked over to the nightstand, he turned on the baby intercom and heard Sam talking to Sasha. He turned around and padded over to the nursery to join them. Up until last night Sasha had stayed with them in their room, but now that they were home and the nursery was done they had decided to see if she could sleep in her own room. With his paternity leave starting, he figured it would be better for Sam's night's rest because she didn't have to feed Sasha in the middle of the night as he could simply turn off the baby monitor and give their baby a bottle in the nursery.

"She's almost asleep," Sam whispered when she felt his arms wrap around her.

He leaned down to give Sasha a kiss and was pleased to see she was already nodding off. "G'night sweetheart," he whispered, before taking Sam's hand and tugging her towards the door.

"Sweet dreams," Sam managed to say before her husband pulled her out of the room. "Jack…"

"Hey, you were the one who was tired," he objected. "Knowing you, you'd still be sitting by her crib in the morning if I didn't get you out of there."

Rolling her eyes she made her way over to their bedroom and sighed. "I guess you're right," she admitted, disrobing and pulling on one of his old shirts before slipping under the bed's covers. "I don't know how I'll be able to go to work once I have to go back."

"You'll be fine," Jack reassured her as he put on a shirt and boxers. "You'll probably be dying to get your hands on some alien tech by that time," he teased her as he slid into bed and pulled her close.

"I guess," Sam murmured, placing her head on his chest. "Although that really depends on my next assignment; I don't know where that'll be but I don't think I want to go back to Area 51, that's too far away from you. And I really don't see myself traipsing around the galaxy with SG-1 either," she added, knowing there had been talk of her returning to the front lines after her temporary reassignment to Nevada last year.

He looked down at her blond hair and let out a deep sigh. "To be honest, I have no idea either, Sam…"

"But…?" She questioned, looking up at him.

Jack wondered where her fatigue had suddenly gone, because she looked sharp as ever to him. "Well," he scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to decide whether or not he should tell her.  _Ah, what the hell!_  "There were ideas about replacing Weir on Atlantis with a military commander; you were on the short list when you were still in Nevada."

"What?"

He winced at her tone and rolled on his side to face her. "I know I didn't tell you, but-"

"You weren't supposed to," Sam finished for him, knowing that as director of HWS he wouldn't have been allowed to tell her. "But now?"

"Now I'm just glad you're home safe and alive," Jack admitted without missing a beat. "I really don't give a rat's ass about what I wasn't supposed to tell you a year ago. Besides, the IOA still hasn't decided what they want and it hasn't been mentioned since. So far they seem content with Weir."

She regarded him for a moment in the dark, before settling back down. "I really don't want to be in the Pegasus Galaxy right now."

"I know," he replied, brushing his hand through her locks. "You're staying right here for now. We'll see what comes next after our leave is over." Jack knew there were a lot of opportunities for her and yet at the same time her assignments seemed limited because of her genius and credentials. It was difficult to place someone with her experience; while she'd enjoyed doing research in Area 51 he'd known she'd get bored soon enough, especially with everyone there treating her like she was a national treasure and seemed afraid to become too close to her. But he also didn't think she'd go back to SG-1. Sam had been the best 2IC he'd ever had and she'd done an outstanding job commanding the team after his promotion to base commander, but it would probably seem like a step backwards after she'd moved on. And honestly, he didn't think it would feel right for her – or him – to command a team without Teal'c and Daniel. Up until now it seemed the SG-1 designation had retired and he was fine with that – as a matter of fact, maybe he should make it official!

"Maybe they'll want me to work on  _Daedalus_  or a new ship," Sam suggested in a sleepy tone.

"Who knows, you might get command of your own ship," Jack smirked. "We'll see. Now, try to get some sleep."

Snuggling closer, she pressed a kiss on his shirt-covered chest. "G'night."

"Sweet dreams, Sam," he murmured as he closed his eyes and willed his body to sleep. Jack was sure Sasha would be awake in a couple of hours, hungry and crying. He could use all the rest he could get.

 


	4. Telling Mark

**December 30, 2005  
** **Carter-O'Neill residence, Washington DC  
** **1000 hours**

Jack closed the door of his study behind him with a small grin on his face; he'd just checked in with Hammond, who was replacing him at HWS now that he was on paternity leave and so far nothing had gone amiss. If anything, Jack suspected he might be able to convince ol' George to stay on a bit longer so he could add another two weeks of personal leave. Then again, it might not be that simple considering his superiors were still pissed about him going after Ba'al to find Sasha – not that they weren't happy with the outcome of the mission. But at least with Hammond as his replacement he knew HWS was in good hands and if his former CO was willing, he might be able to call upon the Texan in the future if he needed to take leave. In the past he'd never been exceptionally eager to take personal leave and only requested it when he needed some time at his cabin, but now he had Sam and Sasha too and he found he enjoyed staying at home.

As a matter of fact, it made him rethink his plans for not retiring yet but he was also aware that there simply wasn't a suitable – permanent – replacement for him yet. Hank Landry was finally getting used to commanding the SGC but Jack doubted the man was ready to take on HWS – he just didn't have enough experience yet. Right now there was no chance the President would allow him to retire, not when the higher ups had refused his requests in the past and had even been unwilling to relieve him of his duty when his wife had been abducted.

The problem with starting a new department like Homeworld Security and Stargate Command was that there weren't enough qualified people for command and they all knew it. Hammond had done an outstanding job when they started the SGC but in reality they had no idea what to expect. Jack had been groomed to be his replacement by working as the base's 2IC for years but now there was basically a shortage of good commanders with enough off-world or alien experience. The ones they had were either commanding ships or off-world bases… It was one of the reasons he'd thought the IOA considering Sam for Weir's replacement in Atlantis could be a good move when they suggested it about a year ago. If Sam got some experience commanding an off-world joint base she could be the one to succeed Landry who could take over HWS so that he himself could retire.

Now though, he couldn't stand the idea of Sam going to the Pegasus Galaxy. Ah well, the subject hadn't come up again, Weir was doing a good job and Sam was still on medical leave which would be followed by her maternity leave. They would just have to wait and see what her next assignment was going to be…

Clearing his mind with a small shake of his head, Jack decided to focus on their plans for today and the weekend. Mark would be here in a few hours and Daniel said he'd come by sometime next week, before he goes off to Atlantis. Jack wasn't entirely sure what to expect of Mark's visit considering the last time he'd been around, but he imagined things would go smoother this time now that Sam had her memory back and Mark was going to meet his little niece… They hadn't told him about Sasha yet because it wasn't something you'd say over the phone. Sam had been purposefully vague when she'd called him last week to tell her brother she was doing much better now and invite him and his family over for her birthday.

Jack could hear Sam chatting on the phone with Daniel as he walked over to the living room and, giving her a thumbs-up to indicate everything was fine at HWS, moved to the baby swing in the corner of the room, where Sasha was cooing at the mobile over her head. He grinned at her when he plopped down on the floor in front of the swing. "Hey sweetie," he greeted her, giving her socked foot a soft squeeze.

Sasha turned her head slightly to look at him and gurgled in response.

He smirked and fiddled with the little toys on the bar of the swing, playing with and entertaining his daughter for a while until Sam finally hung up the phone and made them coffee.

"Daniel was looking forward to coming over here," she told her husband as she set two cups on the coffee table. "He just bought his tickets online and said not to worry about picking him up from the airport, he'll take a cab."

"Okay," Jack nodded and got up, joining her on the couch. "What about your brother?"

Sam shrugged before leaning her head on his shoulder. "Mark said he'd leave the resort after lunch and that it should take him about an hour and a half to get here."

"What resort?"

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Sam let out a deep sigh. How many times had she told him about Mark's plans this past week? "He's staying at the Whitetail Ski Resort; his in-laws live in Pennsylvania and they'd invited Laura, Mark and the kids over to spend the holidays with them at their regular ski resort. That's why he's coming alone, because Laura and the kids are spending time with her parents and wanted to enjoy their last few days of vacation before they had to go back to San Diego next week."

"Ah," Jack replied as he stretched out on the couch and pulled her closer against him. "So… have you thought about what you're going to tell him?"

"Sort of," she mumbled. It wasn't just having to explain how she got all her memories back in such a short period of time – because knowing her brother he was going to ask for an explanation – but also how to tell him about Sasha. They had a cover story of course, but it was a bit flimsy and Sam had never been a very good liar when it came to those she cared about. "It's just that…" she let out a deep sigh and tried again. "You're not supposed to have to answer "it's classified" when people ask about your daughter."

Giving her shoulder a soft squeeze, Jack murmured an "I know" before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "But Mark already knows about your previous memory loss and how difficult your recovery has been, I doubt he'd push it when we tell him about Sasha."

"I know, everything is just so complicated," she retorted, a bit frustrated with the entire situation.

* * *

**Interstate 270, Maryland**   
**1330 hours**

Mark was tapping his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel and let out a deep sigh for the umpteenth time since he got into his in-law's car today. It wouldn't be much longer before he'd reach his destination and see his sister again. Their last phone conversation had been cut short and Sam had been a bit cryptic, probably because once he'd gotten over the surprise of hearing she got her memory back he'd started asking lots of questions. He'd been quickly reminded that his sister was military when she'd started giving short answers and he suspected she'd been close to telling him the details were somehow classified when she'd told him she had to go and get ready to pack up her things because she was going back to DC with her husband – Jack.

He groaned softly at the memory of his brother-in-law. They'd definitely gotten off on the wrong foot and their first real conversation – the brief introduction at Dad's funeral didn't count – had been over the phone when Jack had given him an update on Sam's recovery a couple of weeks ago. He'd hardly known the man and didn't even know Sam had married him until she'd left a message on his voicemail about a year ago, only weeks after she'd broken off her engagement to his friend Pete! Mark was still a bit puzzled over that, even after he'd met Jack in person when he visited Sam last month.

As a matter of fact, that visit – or more like the ride Jack had given him to the airport – had only brought up more questions about Sam and her personal life! Well, her professional life too considering Jack had been her commanding officer before they got together. Mark still wasn't sure what to think of that… Jack had told him in the car that Sam had been his second-in-command for eight years and that the two had known each other for about nine years now. Considering his sister had gotten married a little over a year ago that meant she and Jack hardly had any time to date before getting hitched. Of course Sam would probably argue that working side by side for eight years meant the two of them knew each other pretty well already, but seeing each other at work every day wasn't the same as being married. And how did Pete fit into all of this?

Mark let out a sigh as he changed interstates and entered Virginia, his mind still boggled over the mess that was his sister's life. Perhaps now that Sam had her memory back they could have that talk they should have had a year ago, so she could explain why she'd broken off her engagement to his buddy and married her commanding officer. Lately he'd been very busy with work, making sure his family had enough money and then his father had passed away followed by Sam's abduction and consequent recovery… his social life had suffered and he couldn't even remember the last time he'd actually spoken to Pete. But he did recall how upset his friend was over the broken engagement, yet he had been unwilling to discuss it and Mark hadn't pushed him.

Perhaps setting Sam and Pete up had been a bad idea but he really thought they would hit it off and it had seemed to go so well with their engagement and all, but in the end it had caused problems for his friendship with Pete and the relationship with his sister. He wasn't sure how to fix it, but at least Sam was all right now and they got another chance; she was the only family he had left now, besides Laura and the kids. Now he just had to make sure that Sammie was happy in her marriage to this Jack O'Neill guy and that she didn't regret her hasty decision to marry him. During his last visit Mark had realized that Jack truly cared for Sam, but she hadn't really been herself and without her memories she basically had no one to rely on but her new husband. The man was quite a bit older than her, she'd never spoken about him, he'd been her commanding officer for the better part of a decade and Mark just wanted to make sure this was really the life she wanted for herself, and that they were on equal footing given their previous working relationship. Not to mention that he was curious as to what Dad would have thought about this seeing as how Jack had mentioned he'd known Dad.

_Just a few more minutes_ , Mark thought to himself as he entered the District of Columbia and wove his way through traffic. He wasn't sure how to start the conversation and ask Sam all the questions that were going through his head, but he figured his sister would do most of the talking to explain about her recovery and maybe then he'd see an opening…

* * *

**Carter-O'Neill residence, Washington DC**   
**1400 hours**

Jack cast one last glance at his sleeping daughter before closing the door to Sasha's room and descending the stairs. He frowned as his eyes landed on Sam, who was darting through the living room righting the books in the bookcases, fluffing the couch's pillows, strategically placing coasters on the coffee table and straightening the curtains. "What'cha doing, Carter?"

"Er, I ah," Sam stammered, turning around to face him. "I'm just making sure everything is in order before Mark gets here."

Smirking, he took the last few steps between them and stilled her hands. "You're nervous."

"Am not."

"Are too," he replied and tightened his grip on her hands when she tried to pull them away. "It's cute," Jack added, before she could say anything. He'd never really seen her like her this, the only two times that came close was when she was going to introduce Pete to Jacob and a couple of weeks ago, when Mark had first visited them. Of course he hadn't been able to appreciate it at either time, first because she'd been engaged to Pete and while he'd been happy she was happy Jack wasn't really happy she wasn't happy with him and the last time was because of Sam's memory loss.

Sam glared at him, not appreciating his glee over her predicament. "It's just that knowing Mark, he'll keep digging until he's satisfied with the answers he finds. I guess it's because of all the times Dad used to reply with "classified" when we were kids." She sighed and leaned against her husband.

"Maybe it'll be different this time," Jack offered as he wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer and rested his chin on her head. "I know seeing you last time affected him so it's possible he'll be more understanding now."

"Maybe," she mumbled, not really believing it. "Even if he accepts our story, I just know he's going to ask questions about you and me."

Jack simply nodded, having come to the same conclusion. Mark had already tried giving him the third degree when he drove him back to the airport a few weeks ago. Luckily they'd arrived pretty quickly and Jack been saved. He figured it wouldn't be as easy this time around, considering Mark was staying the night and thus had plenty of time even after he'd gotten over the shock of meeting his niece. "Well, he's your brother, Sam; he's just trying to look out for you."

"I know," she grudgingly admitted and pulled away. "But I don't want to have to justify my choices in life to him… I hope he's not going to bring up Pete once he learns how long you and I've known each other and how we got together-"

"Ah," he quickly dragged a hand through his hair and sent her a sheepish look. "He already knows that you were my 2IC for eight years."

"What?"

"It sort of came up when I drove him back to the airport," Jack replied innocently.

Rolling her eyes, Sam plopped down on the couch. "What else did you tell him?"

"Nothing much," he shrugged. "Although I may have let it slip that Dad didn't like Shanahan."

She refrained from commenting on that particular tidbit and instead focused on their current situation. "Mark should be here any minute now… did you put Sasha down?"

"Yeah sure you bet'cha!" Jack sat down next to his wife and placed his arm around her shoulders. "I figured she might sleep better in her crib than here with you vacuuming the living room for the third time this week."

Sam let out a self-conscious smile and ducked her head. "I just wanted to make sure everything was clean before he gets here."

"I know."

"I'm going to make some coffee, I'm sure Mark would like some when he arrives."

Jack watched her go and walked over the window a few minutes later when he saw an unfamiliar car parking on the other side of the road. "Sam? What does Mark drive?"

"I don't know, he's borrowing the car of his in-laws since he flew in from San Diego last week," came her reply from the kitchen.

"Never mind," Jack muttered to himself when he saw the driver step out. "Mark's here."

Sam darted out of the kitchen and opened the front door before Mark even had the time to walk up to the house and waited for him to reach her all the while smiling nervously. "Hi Mark, how was the trip?"

"Hey Sis," Mark grinned and hugged her. "It was fine, not a lot of traffic on the road luckily."

Gesturing for him to come in, Sam took a step aside and patiently waited for her brother to shed his coat. She took him by the arm into the living room, where most of the baby stuff had been nicely removed from view for the time being. "You've met Jack already."

"Mark, good to see you again," Jack greeted him jovially. He'd decided it would be in his own best interest to get along with his brother-in-law because if it all went pear-shaped this weekend it would only upset and sadden Sam, after all. Besides, if he could play nice with aliens and slimy politicians, how hard could this be? Sam loved him and Jacob had liked him too, so winning over this last Carter shouldn't be that hard, right?

Mark took his proffered hand and shook it. "Jack," he mumbled, before turning back to his sister. "So, how are  _you_  doing?

"I'm fine," Sam replied quickly with an easy smile. Gesturing for him to take a seat, she sat down on the couch nervously, wringing her hands together. "Great, actually," she corrected herself when Mark just looked at her and remained quiet. "Much better now."

Jack flashed her a quick grin from the other side of the room, secretly enjoying seeing this nervous and cute side of her, and gestured towards the kitchen. "What can I get you two? Something to drink; coffee, tea, beer, water, juice…?"

"Coffee," both Carters replied.

"Two sugars, right?" He asked Mark, who seemed surprised but quickly nodded, and made his way into the kitchen. The coffee Sam had started was done and Jack leisurely poured it in three cups, adding two sugars and a spoon for his brother-in-law and banged around in the cabinets until he found the chocolate chip cookies his wife had made a few days ago. Munching on one he quietly slipped into the corridor and went up the stairs to check on Sasha, making sure she was still sound asleep. He figured Sam might want some time alone with Mark and even if she didn't, she really couldn't do anything about it now, ha! Jack so didn't want to get caught up in one of those Carter arguments, he'd experienced his fair share of those on joint missions with Jacob and he really thought it would be best if Sam talked to her brother first. Maybe get the worst questions – no doubt about him seducing his pretty 2IC and abusing his authority – out of the way, before Jack would join in and introduce Mark to Sasha, which would hopefully mollify him somewhat.

Jack stuffed the last of the cookie in his mouth and leaned over the crib, gently straightening the blanket and caressing his daughter's chubby cheek. Sasha didn't even stir, obviously out like a light and without a care in the world. Sliding his fingers through her dark hair, he bent down and gave her a quick kiss on her head before quietly slipping out of the room again. As he made his way downstairs, he steeled himself for the coming confrontation and after grabbing the coffees Jack went back into the living room, joining the Carter siblings.

"… is complicated, Mark," Sam said in exasperation. She let out a sigh of relief when her husband came back with their coffee, which had taken an awful long time. Shooting him a glance she quietly inquired if he'd checked on their baby and quirked her lips in reply when he nodded. She knew he'd left her to fend for herself for a while now that she had her memories back under the guise of checking on Sasha. He was so predictable!

"There you go!" Jack announced rather loudly, very aware of the silence that had descended and Mark's defensive posture since he'd walked into the room.

Mark, who'd immediately noticed the silent communication between his sister and her husband, managed to mutter a "Thank you" when he got his coffee and leaned back in his chair, his curiosity piqued. This would after all be the first time he'd truly see _Sammie_  interact with her husband instead of the amnesic version of his sister. He'd been quite worried about her lately – ever since she'd been abducted months ago, really – and hadn't been sure what to expect of today's visit. The last time he'd seen Sam she'd been very different from what he was used to and in a way it made sense since she'd lost who she was, but he hadn't expected her to fully recover in a matter of weeks! He'd looked into the matter once he'd gotten back to San Diego and talked it over with Laura, his wife and had braced himself for a long recovery period, not even sure if he could ever expect Sam to become herself again, from before the abduction.

But the changes in her were very clear, he'd immediately picked up on them the moment she'd opened the front door. No more shy and insecure Sam, not to mention her overall appearance and her gaining a few pounds by the looks of it, thankfully. Something was still up though, she seemed rather nervous and Mark had the feeling there was something she wasn't telling him, almost as if she was working up to something. But he probably should have expected it, knowing how everything about her work is classified; he'd hardly gotten any information when she was abducted, had only been informed of her wellbeing  _days_  after she'd been rescued and hadn't even been allowed to visit her until she was allowed home – and even then Jack had mentioned something about not telling Sam's physician, the one thing he was thankful for when it came to his brother-in-law.

"So…" Jack decided to break the heavy silence, wearing his innocent 'who me'-mask and looking from his wife to her brother wondering who'd go first. There were times when he could be really patient – and this was one of them. He plopped down on the couch next to Sam and slipped his hand, palm up, underneath hers to interlace their fingers.

Eyeing the 'newlyweds', Mark wondered if he should continue with his line of questioning. As soon as Jack had gone to the kitchen, he'd asked his sister how she was feeling now that she was back to normal. Again she'd claimed to be good, but he'd been referring more to her marriage than her actual wellbeing – he could _tell_  she was doing fine, back to being the bright, invulnerable big sister he knew. But as usual she'd been evasive and eventually told him she was still happily married and happier than she'd been in a long, long time. He found that hard to believe and was just about to ask her why she'd married her old CO for god's sake after breaking off her engagement to his buddy Pete only weeks before, when he realized that he didn't want to make their argument worse.

He'd promised himself – and his wife – that he'd listen to Sam, be happy for her if she was really happy with this guy and just… accept the situation, because arguing and stubbornness had caused enough problems for the Carter family over the years. Sam was his only sister and according to Laura he should accept the fact she had her own life and stop trying to force his own ideals on her; after all, they were very different, but that didn't mean they always had to fight. Mark let out a sigh after a full two minutes and placed his cup on the coffee table before turning to the couple on the couch. "So… Sam was just about to tell me what happened since the last time I was here."

Sam felt the eyes of both men on her; Mark waiting for an answer and Jack probably wondering if she was going to take point, because they both knew he wasn't very good at the talking-thing. "Well, actually a lot has happened in the last few weeks."

"I can imagine," Mark replied quickly.

"Oh, you have no idea," Jack muttered under his breath, only loud enough for his wife to overhear.

Mark shifted in his seat and rested his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. "I was so worried about you, Sammie. Even after I left here, I didn't want to show it to you but you were just so… different. Not what I was used to and knowing the extent of your memory loss, I feared you might never be the same again," he confessed with burning cheeks. He hadn't intended to blurt it all out but since she was back to normal now he figured it wouldn't hurt to let her in. "Laura and I even did some research and well, you can probably understand how shocked I was to hear you've gotten all of your memories back in such a short time! Not that I'm complaining, it's just-"

"A miracle," Jack chimed in, interrupting his brother-in-law. "No one was sure what to expect but it turned out something was effectively blocking her memories."

Sam's grip on her husband's fingers tightened automatically with the lie, but that was the only outward sign of betrayal from her body. "I had a lot of therapy and," seeing her brother's skeptical look, she used a half-truth, "and basically an experimental procedure, which succeeded and now here I am."

"Let me guess, it's classified?" Mark questioned in a weary tone.

"Yes, it's a highly classified procedure and, while successful in other applications the device hadn't been tested yet in a similar situation; it was a risk we were willing to take and it panned out," Sam answered, smiling gratefully.

Jack shrugged as he played with her fingers. "There hadn't been any trials yet in this specific area but now more testing will follow before we can release it to the masses."

"We didn't tell you earlier because we weren't sure it was going to work," Sam added, forcing herself to look sincere.

"What about… you know," Mark gestured awkwardly with his hand and sent a pleading look towards his sister. Clearing his throat he shifted in his seat. "What… do you remember what happened while you were gone? I mean, Uncle George said there wasn't any ah… physical abuse as far as they could tell, but- I mean, eh-"

"I wasn't abused," she quickly reassured him and leaned forward to squeeze his arm.

Mark was relieved to hear that but at the same time he was also confused; if they hadn't hurt her for information, ransom or to exchange hostages or something, then why had she been abducted in the first place? "Do you know why they took you, Sammie?"

Her eyes darted towards Jack automatically before looking back at her brother. "I can't really tell you, I'm sorry."

"Because it's classified?" he huffed, glaring at the two officers.

"Carter's work for the Air Force is classified," Jack quickly replied, before his wife had the chance to say anything. "But we  _can_  tell you that we suspect it had something to do with her expertise."

Sam shot her brother an apologetic smile and shrugged minutely. "They forced me to help them out but I managed to stall for enough time to escape."

"That's all?" Mark's eyebrows knitted together as he processed it. "I don't understand… Uncle George said you were found in the Middle East, after your escape. Why would they go through all the trouble of abducting you here and taking you abroad for some presentation about an aircraft?"

"Look," Jack sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face before continuing. "As you know, your sister is pretty smart and she's been involved in a lot of projects over the years, this ah, presentation just gave our enemies a chance to grab her. And trust me; I'll be having words with the NID about that."

Mark nodded slowly as the information sank in. He assumed that even the bits of information Sam could tell the enemy would help in a war if the enemy was desperate enough, because he couldn't imagine his sister being involved in making weapons or even aircrafts for that matter. She'd spent years studying deep space radar telemetry, how could she possibly have the knowledge her abductors had been hoping for? He hadn't heard anything about her abduction on the news and he knew he wouldn't be getting any more details about it from the Air Force, but maybe she hadn't been the only one who'd been taken? Perhaps they hadn't even been after her, but a colleague of hers… The NID didn't mean anything to him, but he figured it had something to do with intelligence so it was probably part of her security detail or maybe the security from the conference where she was supposed to do the presentation. He wouldn't bother asking about that knowing he wouldn't get a straight answer, but he still didn't understand how they'd found her. "How did the military know where to find you?"

Feeling like they were getting off track here and preventing questions about the NID, Sam quickly jumped in. "I'm sorry Mark, but you know I can't talk about classified information." When he rolled his eyes and gestured for her to continue with her story, she took that as his acceptance and forged ahead. "There is something else, though. Something we learned a few weeks ago and we weren't able to share with you yet…"

"What is it, Sammie?"

Jack squeezed her hand encouragingly and, taking a deep breath, decided to break the news to his brother-in-law when she seemed to be searching for words. "She was pregnant-"

"What?" Mark exclaimed, horrified at the images the words conjured in his head. "What… I thought you said- what did they do to you, Sammie?"

"No, it's not what you're thinking," Sam hastened herself to say. "I was already pregnant when they abducted me… with Jack's baby, but we didn't know it at the time."

Jack waited for the other man to take it all in and slipped an arm around his wife's shoulders, pulling her close against him. He wasn't sure what to expect of Mark but then he hadn't really known how to have this conversation in the first place. "She… we didn't know she was pregnant when they'd taken her and when the team found her Carter's memories were gone; during the treatments with the device she experienced flashbacks so we did some more extensive medical exams and that's when we found out," he lied.

"So you… you-you were pregnant?" Mark repeated slowly, trying to wrap his head around the idea. He'd feared she was sexually abused but pregnancy hadn't crossed his mind at all. Not just because of her slim appearance but simply because he didn't associate it with his sister; Sammie had always been very focused on her career and he'd often wondered if she'd ever settle down in time to start a family or if she even wanted to be a mother. "What, ah… er, what about the, eh, the baby?" He stammered, unsure if he wanted to know the answer. He hadn't seen any signs from his sister or evidence of a baby around the house, but he couldn't imagine what she must have gone through if she'd lost her baby!

"She's okay." Sam beamed at him. "More than okay, really; she's perfect!"

"Wow," he breathed out, relieved beyond belief. His heart was still hammering in his chest and Mark hadn't even realized how much he dreaded the answer, but the joy on her face put all his worries to rest. "She? I have a little niece?"

"Yeah sure you betcha," Jack grinned at him. "She's asleep in her crib upstairs."

Mark was more or less rendered speechless by this turn of events, his mind was racing and all kinds of questions popped into his head. "But wait… I don't understand; where was the baby all this time?"

Sam's smiled slowly faded as she remembered what she and Jack – and their friends – had gone through to find their little girl and what Ba'al had done to her… "Um… when my memories started to come back, we ah-"

"We made some inquiries," Jack smoothly took over, "and after gathering enough intel we went after the bastards that took Carter. With the help of allies we retrieved Sasha and brought her back home."

"Sasha?"

"Her name's Alexandra "Sasha" O'Neill," Sam said proudly.

Mark returned her smile easily and bobbed his head. "It's a great name."

"Our allies were a big help," Jack admitted, thinking of all the Asgard had done to help them in their search. "They suggested her name, because of everything she'd been through."

"We hadn't decided on a name yet," Sam explained shyly. "To be honest we hadn't even discussed having children already because we weren't even living in the same state. We held off on names until we had found her and could take her home, because of, you know…" she made a vague hand gesture, hoping her brother would understand. "Anyway, we were grateful and we kind of liked the name, but we wanted something a bit easier and… well, shorter. Daniel started naming all kinds of variations of the name and apparently the Russian diminutive is Sasha."

Jack shrugged and exchanged glances with Carter, before smirking at his brother-in-law. "It fits; it's short, sassy and has spunk."

"When can I meet her?" Mark requested, eager to meet the new addition to the family. Now he understood why Sam was so happy and satisfied with her life!

"She's settled in her routine so I'd rather not wake her from her nap just yet," Sam said thoughtfully.

He nodded in understanding, remembering the days when his two kids had been babies and how tiring and trying it had been to get them settled. "And you're sure she's all right?"

"The Doc checked her out immediately after we found her; besides needing a bit more sun she was perfectly healthy," Jack lied. It was true that Sasha hadn't seen much sunlight, but she had been far from fine when they'd laid eyes on her for the first time! After Fraiser and Thor had examined her and done their thing, she'd been back to her original age and development though and perfectly healthy. They just had to keep an eye on the naquadah in her blood and wait to see how the remaining knowledge of the Ancients would unfold with time…

"She's also sleeping through the night so you don't have to worry about being awoken in the middle of the night," Sam teased lightheartedly. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders now that she'd told her brother and he seemed to take it so well.

Mark frowned, trying to recall the details of those first few weeks. "How old is she? I mean, if you didn't know you were pregnant when you were abducted, plus the time you were missing and how long you've been back…"

"Well," she sighed loudly. "We're not entirely sure; even though I have my memories back I don't know her date of birth. My watch was taken from me and I spent most of my time in a room with no windows."

"We've done the calculations and considering Sasha's development, the doctor estimates she's about eleven weeks old," Jack explained. "We're working on the paperwork to get her a birth certificate."

"Oh, of course," Mark nodded somberly. He hadn't expected that, but at least Sammie was back to being herself and she had a healthy baby girl! "Wow, this day is just full of surprises. I'm sure Laura will be upset with herself for not being able to make it here once she learns about Sasha," he grinned softly, his mood lifting. "She didn't want to saddle her parents with two teenagers and thought it might be best for me to come alone for your state of mind too."

Sam grinned and snuggled closer to her husband. "Well, you can tell her all about Sasha when you go back tomorrow."

"She's very photogenic, she gets that from her Mom," Jack added with a smirk. As soon as Sasha had been checked out in the infirmary at the SGC on her return there had been demands for pictures from the base personnel and the last few days more of their friends had wanted updates now that they were back in DC. He and Sam also had a lot of catching up to do for Sasha's baby book…

Glancing at the clock Sam realized they only had about half an hour left before she had to wake Sasha and feed her, so she disentangled herself from Jack and got up to get them all some more coffee and something to eat.


	5. The End

**December 31, 2005  
** **Carter-O'Neill residence, Washington DC  
** **Master bedroom  
** **0930 hours**

Jack walked out of the en suite bathroom with a towel in his hand and one around his hips. A grin slowly formed on his face when his eyes landed on Sam, who was bent over at the waist to blow-dry her long locks upside down. Obviously she hadn't heard or seen him yet because of the noise and her limited view. He continued toweling off his hair while enjoying the view and when he was done he stepped up to her, smirking and twisted the towel to flick her sweet six.

"Jack!" Sam yelped, jumping up and dropping the blow dryer the moment the towel connected with her jeans-clad behind. She glared at his reflection in the mirror in front of her but it didn't have the desired effect – he was still chuckling softly. It was tempting to steal the towel from him for payback but she knew it'd hurt much worse on bare flesh than clothes and she really didn't want to encourage his juvenile pranks right now. "Funny," she muttered instead as she rubbed her hand over the point of impact.

"Want me to kiss it better?" He suggested with waggling eyebrows as she moved to grab the hairdryer from the floor to resume her activities. Sneaking a hand around her waist he pulled her against his front. "Of course these would have to come off for me to reach it properly," Jack murmured in her ear, the fingers of his free hand playing with the waistband of her jeans.

Rolling her eyes, Sam pushed his wandering hand away to continue drying her hair. When she saw his crestfallen look reflected in the mirror, she took pity on him and lowered the blow dryer. "You can make it up to me," she replied as she turned around and pressed her lips against his. Their kiss deepened when his tongue sought entry into her mouth and she gladly complied. Moaning, Sam eventually broke off the kiss to catch her breath. She rested her head against his chest and listened to his racing heart. "Tonight," she promised, leaning back to look him in the eye. "When Mark's gone and Sasha is asleep, because I doubt my brother had this in mind when he offered to watch our daughter so we could shower and change."

"Who knows?" Jack teased with a twinkle in his eyes. "He's married, I'm sure he knows all about-"

"Ah!" She placed a hand over his mouth to stop him from talking. "I don't want to know or even think about that."

Jack pressed a kiss against the palm of her hand before pulling back. "Fine, I'll go shave and get dressed. I just couldn't resist when presented with an opportunity!"

Sam smiled softly and patiently waited for him to retreat to the bathroom before turning back to the mirror and turning the hairdryer back on. These days it seemed to take forever to get her hair dry and at times like this she missed her short hair, which only needed to be toweled dry. With a sigh she bent over again, letting her long locks fall down and used the appliance until her hair was nearly dry. Straightening up she combed her hands through her hair and, pleased with the results, turned off the blow dryer and put it away. A quick glance at the clock told her Jack would be back soon, so she decided to head downstairs already to join Mark and Sasha.

* * *

**Carter-O'Neill residence, Washington DC  
** **Kitchen  
** **1245 hours**

Sam was just finishing up in the kitchen when she heard heavy footsteps coming her way. Glancing over her shoulder confirmed it was her brother and she smiled hesitantly at him. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Mark shook his head as he stepped up to her and leaned against the counter. "I was just wondering if you needed any help."

"Ah, just like old times," she smirked. Seeing his confusion, she gestured towards the lunch she'd prepared. "After Mom died… you'd always only offer to help once I was nearly done. I guess you can get the drinks if you want."

He had the grace to blush and reached for cups in the cabinets, but the coffee wasn't done yet. "You've got a great kid, Sis."

"Yeah, I do, don't I?" Sam retorted, grinning like an idiot. "Thanks again for watching her earlier today."

"No problem," he shrugged it off. "She's an angel, didn't give me any trouble at all. You know, she looks just like you when you were a baby."

"She has Jack's hair color, though."

Mark frowned for a moment before gesturing towards the living room. "You don't have that old baby picture here, do you?" He didn't recall seeing it or any familiar pictures, really.

"No, I took it with me to Nevada and I think it's still boxed up," Sam explained, referring to the black and white picture she'd had in the living room of her old house. "I'm not even sure if those boxes are here already…"

"Well, I'm telling you she's your spitting image," he chuckled softly. "I'll bet she's got your brains too, she already has the same intelligent gaze with those big, blue eyes of hers."

"Oh, you have no idea," Jack chimed in, overhearing Mark's last words as he entered the kitchen. According to Thor Sasha had already been wise beyond her years before they'd managed to reverse the aging effect of the nanites and with parts of the Ancients' knowledge left in her head… well, he could only hope she'd have Carter's brains because there wasn't enough room for that in his, he'd already proven that – twice! "I'm starving," he added, reaching for the food on the counter.

Sam patiently rolled her eyes and handed him the platter. "You can set it on the table, we'll be right there."

Mark watched his brother-in-law, whistling an awfully familiar tune he couldn't quite place, go and turned back to his sister. "Sam," he placed a hand on her forearm, halting her movements and waited for her to look at him. "I know now that you're happy, with Jack and Sasha and I want you to… but, can I ask you one thing?"

"Sure… as long as it's not classified."

He shook his head slightly in denial and took a deep breath before continuing. "Jack told me you two have known each other for years… that he was your CO," Mark added, the term coming easily to him after his military upbringing.

"Yes, until he transferred here to DC after eight years," Sam confirmed hesitantly. She wondered where her brother was going with this, but she suspected it had something to do with her former fiancé and his friend.

"If I'm not mistaken that leaves less than two months between you breaking off your engagement to Pete and getting married to Jack…"

She sighed and looked him in the eye. "Just spit it out, Mark."

"Look," he held up his hands in a disarming manner at her slightly hostile tone. "The last time I was here I could tell Jack really cared about you and now… well, now that I've seen the two of you together and with Sasha, I see how happy you are and that you return Jack's feelings. It's just that I know you and you don't rush into things, so it makes me wonder why you got married so quickly."

"I love Jack," she smiled softly and ducked her head. It still felt strange to be able to say it aloud. "When our transfers came through we were aware there wasn't much time before we'd end up in the same chain of command again and we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together – I know that sounds sappy and cliché, but that's just how it feels."

Mark nodded, understanding what she was saying as he felt the same about his wife. "I get it, Sammie. But such feelings don't suddenly emerge after eight years," he added. He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to halt her reply. "I know you'd never go against the military's regulations, don't worry. But it does make me wonder where Pete fits into all of this."

Sam grimaced at his mention of the name and let out a deep sigh. "You're right," she mumbled, staring at the counter top. "I'm not sure when it happened but at one point I realized my feelings for him were… well, they weren't appropriate given our working relationship, our military ranks. Around the fourth year I realized he reciprocated and we, uh, admitted that we cared about each other a lot more than we were supposed to."

"Go on," Mark urged her when she fell silent. This was the most he'd ever heard her talk about her personal life and feelings; he didn't want her to shut down now. Even though it probably should, it didn't surprise him in the least that it took her – or Jack, from what he'd seen of the man – four years to admit she fell in love with someone… well, unattainable really. "Sammie?"

"Transferring out of the chain of command wasn't an option, so we basically ignored it and did our jobs," she shrugged casually, yet feeling anything but.

"You tried to move on," he suggested. "Date other people?"

Snorting, Sam shook her head in denial. "I didn't have much of a social life and spent a lot of time on base working, doing research, writing articles and working on my book or I took my bike and went for a trip. Two years ago something happened-"

"Your accident, when you got that concussion?"

She paused, the question bringing her up short before she remembered him calling her after she got back from being marooned on  _Prometheus_  and she'd blamed an accident on the concussion she had. "Right… anyway, it made me stop and think with all that time I had on my hands," she smirked at him, "and I realized nothing much had changed, except that people, friends of mine… they'd moved on and I didn't even know if Jack still felt the same way, we had become so adapt at hiding our feelings and not acting on them that I didn't know what  _I_  felt anymore. That was when I figured I should try to move on instead of using Jack as some sort of safe bet."

"And you finally took me up on my offer to set you up with a friend of mine," Mark finished for her, understanding dawning on him.

"I liked Pete, he made me feel things I hadn't felt in a long time and I never meant to hurt him," Sam continued. "I was fond of him but it moved too quickly. I wasn't sure if I was ready to get married-"

He chuckled softly as he poured the coffee. "It did take you two weeks to accept…"

"I know, it was… complicated," she frowned at the memory, remembering how she'd asked Jack's opinion about it only to be left wondering. "Then Pete bought a house without asking me and things were moving even faster, the wedding date rapidly approaching and more doubts were voiced in my mind. I still felt something for Jack," Sam finally admitted, blushing. "I went to talk to him, but then I got the call about Dad." She purposely left out the part where she'd been confronted with Jack moving on too, with Kerry Johnson.

Mark put sugar in his cup and squeezed his sister's hand in silent support. "It must have been hard for you, I would have come but-"

"It's okay," she interrupted him, blinking back tears at the image of her father lying in the SGC infirmary. "Jack and my other friends were there and I had a good talk with Dad before he died." Sam looked up at Mark and gave him a watery smile. "He told me to follow my heart and not to let rules stand in the way."

"Dad knew?"

"Apparently-"

"He was a smart man," Jack chipped in as he leaned into the doorway. "So, Carter broke it off with Shanahan and we lived happily ever after," he quipped. "Is the coffee done? For a moment I thought the beans still had to be ground and the food is getting cold."

* * *

**Carter-O'Neill residence, Washington DC  
** **Living room  
** **1330 hours**

Mark was settled comfortably on the couch next to his sister after lunch with another cup of coffee before he had to go back to Pennsylvania, to join his family at the ski resort. Sam and her husband had taken the dishes to the kitchen, with Jack offering to clean up so Sam could spend some time with him. "So, do you have special plans for tonight? New Year's Eve," he added, when Sam stared at him.

"No," she shook her head and gestured towards Sasha across the room. "We're still adjusting and have finally settled into a routine that works last week, so nothing exciting. I'm more than happy for a quiet evening on the couch and heading to bed early. Daniel, a friend of ours, is coming over this week before he's going on his next assignment, eh, abroad and he's very… talkative."

Done in the kitchen, Jack walked into the room and overheard her last words. "He's exhausting; we'll need all the rest we can get before he gets here."

"Holy Hannah! Do you always sneak up on people like that?" Mark exclaimed, startled by Jack's sudden voice behind him.

"Years of training," Sam smirked.

Mark rolled his eyes and tried to ignore their amusement. "Well, I should probably get going soon," he muttered, before taking a sip of his coffee. "There's bound to be a lot of traffic and I don't want to be too late or the in-laws will start complaining."

"Relax," Jack made a dismissive wave at him. "You Carters are all so tense; you need to take some time to relax."

"Says the military guy," he countered.

"Hey, I'm just flying a desk these days! The only things that make me tense are slimy politicians that want to talk about budgets, campaigns and golf scores."

Mark chuckled softly, reminded of the higher ups at his firm. "You don't like golfing?"

"It's nice but you need enough…  _space_  to do it and I haven't been able to beat my record from a couple of years ago, when I was teaching our friend, Murray to golf," Jack replied with a small grin. "But nothing beats fishing!"

"Fishing?"

Sam nodded at her brother, while Jack went over to Sasha to pick her up. "Jack has a cabin in Minnesota where he likes to go fishing."

" _We_  have a cabin in Minnesota," he corrected her and sat down in a chair to feed the baby.

"Oh, I lost track of time," she replied, glancing at the clock. Surprisingly Sasha hadn't even let them know she was hungry and Sam quickly moved to get up.

Jack held up his hand with a bottle in it and shook his head at her. "I told you, Carter, you can take it easy while I'm on paternity leave. Besides, I need the practice for when I'm finally allowed to retire."

"If you ask me you don't really need that much practice," Mark commented as he gestured towards the happy and comfortable little girl. "I've seen you with her today and yesterday, you're a natural Jack considering the short amount of time you two have had with Sasha so far. Trust me, I remember how awkward I was when Ryan was first born, wasn't that much better with Amy either in the beginning. Friends of Laura and mine have adopted and it certainly took them more than a few weeks to connect with their babies… not that I'm implying that's the same situation but if I understand it correctly you hardly had any time to bond or even prepare for Sasha's arrival… Unless of course you've done this before? I mean, are there more Jack O'Neill offspring out there? Older ones, perhaps going to college already?" Hearing a sharp intake of breath from his sister, he stopped rambling and looked from her to Jack. "What, is it something I said?"

"Ah, it's complicated," Sam after a moment of silence.

"What-"

"Mark," she cut him off in her most commanding tone. But it was already too late, as Jack silently got up and walked out of the living room, smoothly adjusting his hold on Sasha in the meantime. "Damn," Sam muttered, shaking her head softly.

Mark was confused and looked at her for an explanation. "Sammie, what just happened? Was I right, does Jack have other children? Wow, I mean… well, I guess these days it's not that surprising. He's been married before, or-"

"Shut up," Sam hissed, grabbing his arm in a painful hold when he opened his mouth again. No wonder Daniel often reminded her of her brother… "It's a long story, okay?" When he simply raised his brows, probably afraid to speak, she let go of his arm and leaned back against the couch. She was just about to try and explain when Jack returned and walked straight up to Mark. "Jack?"

"Here," Jack held out his hand to his brother-in-law, while holding Sasha in the crook of his other arm still suckling on the bottle. "Take it."

Hesitating for a moment, Mark finally took the frame and turned it right side up. "I don't understand…"

"That's Charlie," he replied, as he sat down on Sam's other side. Adjusting his hold on Sasha he placed her in his other arm before resuming the bottle-feeding. "I was married a long time ago, before we," he jerked his head in Sam's direction, "knew each other. Sara, my ex-wife, and I had a son, Charlie. He accidentally shot himself with my gun; that's his last school picture."

"Oh my God," Mark muttered, looking at the smiling fair-haired child in the picture, before glancing back at the couple next to him. "I-I don't know what to say. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to bring up painful memories."

Jack shrugged, looking at his wife before staring off in the distance. "That's okay, you didn't know. Besides, there are good memories too," he added, the corner of his mouth lifting in the ghost of a smile. Shaking himself, he turned back to his brother-in-law. "I can understand if you're worried about Sa-"

"Don't," Sam interrupted him. She turned towards him and cupped his cheek. "It wasn't your fault and you're an amazing father, don't ever doubt that, Jack."

Mark looked the other way when his sister leaned into her husband and got up to give them some privacy. It wasn't long before he had to hit the road again, so he muttered an excuse about getting his luggage – he doubted they were listening – and went upstairs. It was clear to him now that he'd misjudged Jack and he was amazed the man was still sane after everything he'd gone through. Losing his son, then Sam got abducted and their baby had been missing. It was hard for him to imagine what it must have been like for his sister and brother-in-law, struggling with the amnesia and then finding out they had a baby and it was in enemy hands… he shuddered and quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. If anyone could handle it, he figured it would be the two of them. Mark was big enough to be able to admit it when he was wrong and it seemed like Jack and Sam really loved each other and, perhaps just as important, they complemented each other and had already lived through one of the worst imaginable scenarios and came out stronger.

He didn't know how they coped with it but it seemed like they had a handle on everything. It was one of the reasons he'd always admired his big sister and apparently she'd found the right guy to stand by her. Even if he was still a bit wary of Jack's obvious military past it made him happy that she had someone strong she could rely on. It was clear to him that the two's story about deep space radar telemetry was most likely a cover for something far more dangerous, but knowing that Sammie had a family to return to at the end of the day made him feel confident she'd do anything she could to keep herself safe, whatever it was she really did for a living.

After ten minutes he dropped his bags off at the door and peeked into the living room. Sammie and her husband were curled up on the couch, with Sasha asleep in their arms. "For what it's worth from what I've seen so far, I have to agree with Sam, Jack; you're a good guy and a great Dad."

"Uh, thanks," Jack mumbled, moving to get up.

"Don't get up on my account; I have to leave or I'll be late," Mark quickly said, walking towards them. He shook Jack's hand and leaned in to give Sammie and Sasha a kiss. "We'll call."

"Yes we will," Sam said confidently. "Give my love to Laura and the kids. Drive safely!"

"Will do, bye! With a small wave he moved, got his bags and coat and went out to his car.

Everything was going to be just fine and the new year would be off to a great start.

The End…

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a beta, any mistakes are my own. I enjoy feedback and/or constructive criticism or just a comment to let me know why you (don't) like it.


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